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Alexandria Considers Extension Of BikeShare

By: Michael Pope // September 30, 2011
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With many commuters already using bicycles, Alexandria is considering extending the successful Capital BikeShare program to Old Town.
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With many commuters already using bicycles, Alexandria is considering extending the successful Capital BikeShare program to Old Town.

City council members in Alexandria will soon consider expanding the Capital BikeShare program into Old Town. The cost of the first year of the program would be $400,000, money that the city has already set aside from the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Funding Program. That would buy 54 bikes at six stations in Old Town. It would also pay for the first year of operation.

City leaders say Alexandria’s projected usage would likely be similar to Arlington's, which was the first jurisdiction to strike a deal with Oregon-based Alta BikeShare. D.C. later piggybacked onto that contract through its affiliation with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Now Alexandria City Council members are set to vote next month on whether the city wants to enter into a similar agreement.

Acting City Manager Bruce Johnson says Alexandria has a higher percentage of people who use bicycles to commute. So combined with the number of tourists in the city, he says Capital BikeShare may even be more successful in Alexandria than in Arlington.

 

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