(Washington, DC) – Today, Capital Bikeshare celebrates its second birthday, marking the end of a very successful year that saw the addition of more stations in the District and Arlington, and most recently, the City of Alexandria. Alexandria kicked off the birthday celebration with an official Launch Party on Wednesday, and today it is Capital Bikeshare Day, by proclamation, in both DC and Arlington.

Capital Bikeshare launched on September 20, 2010, and on its first anniversary recorded its 1 millionth ride. Just one year later, the system is now barreling down on 3 million rides, a milestone it expects to reach within the next 3-4 weeks. Capital Bikeshare’s 18,000 annual members and 221,000 casual members to date have taken a total of 2,851,709 rides (through 9/18). The system is currently averaging about 50,000 rides a week and set a one day record for ridership on Saturday, September 15 with 8,717 rides.

The progress of Capital Bikeshare and its members over the past year is visually summarized in the infographic below:

More Stations

Over the past year, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) added an additional 40 stations in DC, and expanded 26 stations. Arlington added 26 new stations and Alexandria joined Capital Bikeshare this month with eight stations in Old Town. Overall, the system added 74 stations, expanded 26 and added a new jurisdiction to the mix for a current grand total of 189 stations system-wide. In addition, four of the DC stations are located on National Park Service property, on the National Mall, with more on the way.

More Accessible

Through a great partnership with Bank on DC—a collaborative group that provides access to financial services to unbanked and under-banked households in the DC Metro Area—Capital Bikeshare has been able to offer discounted memberships to current account holders and encourage those who don’t currently have access to a debit/credit card to become Bank on DC account holders with one of two participating banks. This partnership removes the barrier that many without credit and debit cards would face when trying to utilize the Capital Bikeshare system.

In addition, we created a monthly installment plan that allows members to pay for an annual Bikeshare membership in small monthly payments of just $7, instead of a one-time $75 payment.

More Safety Information

Capital Bikeshare has had a strong commitment to safety right from the start, encouraging members to ride safely at all times—that includes wearing a helmet, obeying traffic signals and riding on the right side of the road.

Over the past year the system has also outfitted each of its bikes with safety messages, and posted the same messages on the station kiosks and system website. Safety information is also provided to all new members with their key fobs, and included in the monthly newsletters.

The system also recently launched online helmet sales, offering a $16 option to those who sign-up for or renew a Capital Bikeshare membership.

More Maintenance and Operations

This time last year, Capital Bikeshare had two rebalancing vans to take care of redistribution across the entire system. Now, it is operating five rebalancing vans with double the staff. They are able to move over 1,000 bicycles and perform an average of 104 bicycle safety checks per day.

More Partners

A total of 62 local companies currently offer discounted Capital Bikeshare memberships to their employees, with 31 added in the past year. You may view these companies on the Capital Bikeshare website at capitalbikeshare.com/partners . Another 26 companies have partnered with Capital Bikeshare to offer great discounts on products and services to members through the Member Benefits Program.

More to Come

As Bikeshare enters its third year of operation, it will continue to expand:

• Alexandria plans to expand its network beyond Old Town.
• In the District, expansion will continue steadily with 54 stations to be added by the end of the calendar year and a projected growth of at least 10% per year over the next five years.
• Arlington recently completed a Transit Development Plan for Capital Bikeshare which directs expansion including approximately 30 new stations in 2013 , focusing on the neighborhoods of Columbia Pike and Shirlington.
• Montgomery County also expects to join Capital Bikeshare in 2013.

For more information about Capital Bikeshare, please visit our website at www.capitalbikeshare.com .