Next Stop For Bike-Share Programs: Capitol Hill
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 03.10.08
We've seen tremendous interest in cycling recently, with London announcing a major plan to promote pedal and pedestrian power, Mexico building hundreds of miles of bike paths, and bike-share programs springing up faster than parking lots and strip malls (see University of Washington, Barcelona, New York, Paris, Seville and Tuscon, for example). Now, bike-sharing is making its way inside the Beltway with a 'Wheels4Wellness' program to be introduced on Capital Hill. The announcement came at a rally for the National Bike Summit, and was made by Representative Dan Beard. According to BikePortland.org
the new program will initially place 30 bikes at three locations around the U.S. House offices on Capitol Hill and will be available for free to the House’s 7,000 DC-based employees. Beard also announced that a second phase of the program will extend the locations to major transit hubs, like the train station at L’Enfant Plaza which is a popular hub for Capitol Hill commuters.
The goal is to unveil the program in time for Earth Day, which leaves them just enough time to work out the details (namely, what kind of system will be used for payment and accessing/returning the bikes). Sounds to us like having bicycles so near the halls of power could single-handedly reverse our car-culture and create a healthy, fit, green, safe and quiet America. Or not. . . (Hey, at least Obama is a big supporter of cyclists!)
Via: ::BikePortland
See Also: ::Winter Tips for Summer Bicycle Trips: Part 1, ::Winter Tips for Summer Bicycle Trips: Part 2, ::Winter Biking Isn't So bad, and ::The Cutting Edge: Bicycle Lawn Mowing
Unfortunately a hopeless small attempt given the reckless DC car drivers (all driven by their big power ego's), the missing bicycle infrastructure beyond the national mall area, the dress code and the soon coming humid summer conditions.
In DC it would make more sense if Metro would do something to allow bicycles during rush hour on trains.
How to pay for it, see how the German Railway does it: http://www.callabike-interaktiv.de/kundenbuchung/process.php?proc=english&f=500&key=67e54044a3c587c41cc620f449b211ce...00000