Thanks to a grant announced this week by Gov. Martin O’Malley, the area will eventually feature a flock of the same bright red bicycles that have become nearly ubiquitous in Washington.The state will provide the university and College Park with a $375,000 grant to install eight bicycle stations from the Capital Bikeshare program, a public-private partnership founded in 2010 that features more than 1,200 bikes in about 140 stations in Washington and Arlington, Va.
Officials hope to finalize paperwork by July 1 and expect it will take about a year to fully implement the system, which means the bikes should be available to students and residents sometime during summer 2013.
It’s great news for the city and university, both of which have applied – and been rejected – for numerous bike-sharing grants in past years. The state will pay 80 percent of the nearly $500,000 cost of implementing the program, with the university and city each chipping in about $45,000. It’s also great for students and area residents who want to make a quick trip to or from the College Park Metro Station or across the campus.
But despite the heavy startup costs, the program isn’t free to use. Nor is it certain to be successful.
Users will have to pay just for the right to enroll in the program, with fees expected to range from $5 for a 24-hour pass to $75 for a year of access. At current rates, bike rental is free for the first 30 minutes and costs $1.50 for up to an hour: after that, the rate increases until reaching an hourly price of $12.
The pricing is designed to encourage short trips over lengthy ones – and to help keep bikes available for other users. But the system is also designed for high-density urban areas, a description not exactly befitting this suburban college town.
Our main concern is with the scarcity of stations. According to College Park Patch, the joint grant proposal submitted by the city and university calls for four stations on the campus, at Eppley Recreation Center, McKeldin Library, Stamp Student Union and the Regents Drive Garage. Four more stations will be located in the city: at the College Park Metro Station, Hollywood Shopping Center, The Varsity housing complex and near the downtown intersection of Knox Road and Route 1.
One reason the bikeshare program has enjoyed so much success – more than a million rides by its first anniversary – is the density of stations in Washington. If a rider finds his desired docking location is full, he has a 15-minute grace period to find another spot. That’s pretty easy when stations are located all over the place, but it would be a major hassle for local users. Just imagine riding to the Metro station only to realize the docking station is full and you must ride back to downtown College Park to park your bike, then walk back to the Metro station. It would defeat the entire purpose of the program.
When plotting the eight planned docking stations on a map, some potential bottlenecks quickly emerge: the Metro station and Hollywood Shopping Center are far removed from other stations, which makes them potential dead-end destinations. Also, as most students know all too well, the campus is relatively hilly: A docking station at Stamp is likely to see plenty of users riding downhill toward Route 1 or the ERC, but how many people will want to make the return trip?
The scarcity of stations will also discourage students from riding to class; who wants to risk being late if your desired station is full? Even if the bikes are redistributed to the stations at night it seems likely more than a few users will have a bad experience – something a fledgling program like this can’t really afford.
Despite our concerns, the editorial board believes the bikeshare program has a chance to become quite successful. We just hope the city and university find a way to ensure there are enough stations to make success a reality.
