Bicycle-Sharing Program to Debut

Jim Sebastian of the District's Department of Transportation displays SmartBike DC's prototype bicycles, which will be ready for use in mid-May. (By Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post)
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"I would have never thought it was a bicycle rack," said Gerald Wells as he studied the silver one outside the Reeves Center at 14th and U streets NW. "I kept going by looking at it. It's very innovative."

SmartBike is part of the city's 20-year, $150 million bus shelter contract with Clear Channel, Sebastian said. Clear Channel will be responsible for bicycle maintenance and other costs related to the program.

Bike sharing has taken off in Europe, where several outdoor advertising companies including Clear Channel run programs. Paris, in coordination with the advertising firm JCDecaux, launched its program with 10,000 bikes last year and has since doubled that number.

Officials had hoped to launch the D.C. program earlier, but several problems -- including how to keep in-use bikes parked away from the storage racks from being stolen -- need to be resolved.

Sebastian said that the city is looking at a lock that would remain on the bicycle, modeled after one used successfully in Paris.

SmartBike will not provide helmets for riders, though wearing one is encouraged, Sebastian said. The District requires the mandatory use of helmets for riders younger than 16.

"I'll be wearing my helmet on my SmartBike. I hope everyone else will," Sebastian said.

Other U.S. cities have tried lower-tech versions of bike sharing, but they have struggled with sustainability. Portland, Ore., made yellow bikes available, but there was no organized system to store or keep track of the bicycles. Most were stolen or vandalized.

Sebastian said officials hope to expand the program quickly and move it beyond downtown.

Arlington County is also looking at a bike-sharing program, though it plans to use an automated system that would reserve bikes by cellphone, said Paul DeMaio, who owns MetroBike LLC and is a consultant to the county.