D.C. is hiking Capital Bikeshare prices. Some will pay triple.

Washington Post

01-07-2025

Starting in August, it will cost for some people three times as much per minute to ride a regular Capital Bikeshare bike and more than twice as much for an electric bike. It's the first price increase since 2021 for a service that has become increasingly popular but also increasingly expensive to run as more riders choose high-maintenance e-bikes.
District Department of Transportation Director Sharon Kershbaum said in a statement that the price increases are necessary to 'support the long-term sustainability of the program' and to provide 'essential infrastructure upgrades, expand e-bike availability, and maintain a high level of service.'
The program is subsidized, mostly by the D.C. government, and costs around $17 million a year to run. About 65 percent of those costs are covered by fares; the city would like to get that number above 80 percent. Capital Bikeshare is one of the least expensive programs of its kind in the country, and it will remain cheaper than most — particularly for e-bikes, which need to be regularly charged and often tracked down outside docks.
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser's budget also includes $13 million for upgrades and repairs to the system, including new e-bikes and more docking stations.
An annual membership will cost $120 instead of $95 and a monthly one $25 instead of $20. For members, regular bikes are still free for 45 minutes and then 5 cents a minute; e-bikes will soon be 15 cents a minute, up from 10 cents. For nonmembers — about a third of riders — it will cost 15 cents a minute for a conventional bicycle, up from 5 cents, and 35 cents a minute for an electric one, up from 15. The $1 starting fee for nonmembers will remain the same, but they will pay an extra dollar for parking an e-bike outside of a station.
E-bikes are 30 percent of the fleet but 60 percent of rides, the city says, and only 40 percent of riders dock their e-bikes after using them. That creates more work for employees, who have to retrieve the bikes to charge their batteries.
The city is also raising prices for its low-income program, which until now was almost free — a $5 annual fee for unlimited rides of an hour or less on both regular and electric bikes, with no docking fees. Starting Aug. 1, those users will pay 10 cents a minute for e-bike rides and $2 to park outside stations. But regular bikes will remain free for 60 minutes and 5 cents a minute after that, and members will get a monthly $40 credit to help cover those costs.
At a hearing last month, D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) said he was worried that waiving the docking fees had removed a necessary incentive to return bikes. 'I think the discount fare program is phenomenal; it helps make these bike shares and the e-bikes, which I love, much more accessible and readily available,' he said. But, he added, 'Are we accidentally creating a scenario where … you end up with bikes everywhere, which adds more work to help rebalance the system and track them down?'
About a quarter of rides are through the low-income program, which covers anyone who lives in the area and qualifies for state or federal income or disability-based assistance programs, including Medicaid. (Private scooter and bike companies offer similar programs.)
By contrast, New York's CitiBike program, which is unsubsidized, charges $5 to unlock a bike and then 38 cents a minute for e-bikes. (There is a low-income program, but it is less generous.) Other scooters and bikes around D.C. are not subsidized and generally more expensive — although that has not hurt their growth. Lime e-bikes and scooters cost 49 cents a minute; the company says they logged 975,000 trips in May. In addition to offering income-related discounts, Lime gives credits to users for watching ads.
Seth Grimes of the Washington Area Bicycle Association said that he thinks the increases 'are fair and reasonable,' especially given the discounted program, and that Bikeshare 'continues to be an excellent value.'