Someone knocked on the door of my open house in DC a couple of weeks ago and asked that I watch his bike from Capital Bikeshare while he looked at the house. So I did. I stood at the front door and watched as the lights on the front panel beeped and finally turned off – I guess timing how long he was on the bike.
Since then, I have seen Bikeshare stations everywhere.
There are all sorts of ways that you can use the program. You can join as a member for 24-hours ($7 membership fee), three days, daily, monthly, or a year ($75 paid in advance.) Then the first 30 minutes of your ride are free, and you’re charged on a fluctuating scale for additional time. Twenty-four hour and three day members pay more than daily, monthly, & yearly members. Click here to see more about the pricing.
You can pay per use at a station or you can get an electronic key (think EZPass for bikes) that allows you to avoid the sign-in hassle even if you’re a once-in while, infrequent daily user.
Capital Bikeshare will even sell you a bike helmet for $16 and send it to you in the mail.
So next time you want to look at properties in an area where parking may be a problem, rent a bike. If you come to one of my open houses, I promise to watch the bike while you look at the house. (But you might want to invest in a lock if you plan to use the bikes a lot. :-))
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