Capital Bikeshare in Alexandria

The City of Alexandria's bike sharing program, in partnership with the District Department of Transportation, Arlington County, and Montgomery County, is called Capital Bikeshare. With Capital Bikeshare, you can choose from nearly 400 stations in the region, and return a bike to any station near your destination.

Page updated on Sep 19, 2016 at 11:29 AM
Join Capital Bikeshare

Capital Bikeshare

What's New

Thirteen new stations were installed in Alexandria this year, expanding to new neighborhoods.  Rosemont, North and South Old Town, Potomac Yard and Fairlington now have access to bikeshare.  To learn more about membership types or purchase a bikeshare membership, click HERE.  

  • Aug. 12, 2016: Due to an error by the City, the station installed at Commonwealth & Monroe Avenues in June 2016 extended slightly outside the City’s right-of-way.  The adjacent restaurant supported the original location but does not own the property, and the City is continuing to work with the property owner to find a suitable location.  The station has been removed and will be relocated nearby as soon as possible.  The City apologizes for the inconvenience; please check back here for updates about the new location.

Capital Bikeshare City Hall 313x313 imageProgram Overview

Bike sharing is public transportation using bicycles, and cities around the world provide bike sharing systems as a transportation option for residents and visitors. The City of Alexandria's bike sharing program, in partnership with the District Department of Transportation, Arlington County, and Montgomery County, is called Capital Bikeshare. With Capital Bikeshare, you can choose from nearly 400 stations in the region, and return a bike to any station near your destination. Motivate operates the system for Alexandria, Montgomery County, Arlington, and Washington, D.C.

Alexandria joined the regional Capital Bikeshare network in September 2012 with eight stations, and added eight more stations in Del Ray and Carlyle in August 2014. 

For more information about the bikeshare program, please call 703.746.4017 or email CapitalBikeshare@AlexandriaVA.gov 

Alexandria Dashboard

Expansion in Alexandria

Capital Bikeshare stations were added in the Del Ray and Carlyle areas in August 2014, doubling the size of the existing network in Alexandria.  To see a current map of stations in Alexandria and throughout the region, visit www.capitalbikeshare.com/stations. 

The Transportation Master Plan provides an overview of Capital Bikeshare with and provides an map of system expansion over the next five years as the program will expand to the west side of the City.  During the updated to the Pedestrian and Bicycle chapters of this plan, the expansion of Capital Bikeshare was discussed at numerous public meetings and endorsed by the Ad Hoc Committee for this plan.  

City Council approved funding to pay for the operation of 16 new bikeshare stations in FY 2016,  ten of which have been installed.  A map of existing and future stations as well as stations to be installed this summer can be viewed below.

CaBi Map Aug 2016

Station Siting

Alexandria station locations are selected from locations suggested by the public, and preferences shown on the  interactive crowdsourcing map.  Locations are evaluated using criteria including connectivity to transit to expand between metrorail stations, mixed-use activity centers,  potential bicycle activity, proximity to other Capital Bikeshare stations, as well technical considerations. Staff attended community meetings to gain input from residents on Capital Bikeshare expansion in Alexandria. See the map above for the proposed locations for the next eight stations or click here to  view a larger map - Summer 2016 stations are yellow and existing stations are red.  

Location Selection for Bikeshare Stations

  • Online Interactive Crowdsourcing Map
  • Developer contributions
  • Community requests and comments (CallClickConnect, Emails, Community meetings)
  • Proximity to:
    • Metrorail Stations
    • Mix-use activity centers
    • Existing and potential bicycle activity
    • Proximity to other bikeshare stations
  • Transportation Master Plan (next five years of stations)

Technical Considerations

  • Direct sunlight
  • At least 11'x 42' of clearance
  • Sidewalk/pedestrian clearance
  • Topography
  • Utility clearance
  • VDOT approval
  • City ROW

Public Engagement

  • Board of Architectural Review – October 2011 and July 2013
  • Capital Bikeshare Open House  - January 28, 2015
  • Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan – Online wikimap – August to October 2014
  • Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan Public Meetings –
    • Sept. 30, 2014 (Overview of existing stations and input on future stations)
    • Sept 24, 2015 (Showed recommended bikeshare station locations)
  • Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan Ad Hoc Advisory Committee Meetings –
    • Oct 9, 2014 – presented existing conditions, including bikeshare stations
    • Dec 3, 2014 – presented results of wikimap / survey for future bikeshare stations
  • Planning Commission Public hearing – April 5, 2016
  • City Council Public hearing – April 16, 2016

Prior to installation, adjacent businesses and civic associations will be notified about the new bikeshare stations.

METRO SAFETRACK PLAN

Metro released its SafeTrack Plan,  a comprehensive maintenance effort that will accelerate three years worth of work into approximately one year. The plan significantly expands maintenance time on weekends, weeknights and midday hours and includes 15 "Safety Surges"--long-duration track outages for major projects in key parts of the system.  During this time, try Capital Bikeshare as a way to get around and avoid the shut downs and delays.  For more information on the plan and schedule, visit the WMATA Website. 


Resources

Top