Spring again. Another year of roadies on Hains Point, tour buses, high school classes on the National Mall, and wait!
What’s that? Something’s different this year.
This spring also features Capital Bikeshare tourists. I saw this group as I rode by the Jefferson Memorial on Ohio Drive ealier this week. What a great way to tour the city!
I came upon another group in the 15th Street bike lane, heading toward the White House, but I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about them. They were riding about 8 miles per hour, and I was running late for work. Hurry up, tourists!
However, I much prefer the Washington, D.C., visitors when they traverse on foot or by bike as opposed to tour buses (where they hopelessly clog up the sidewalks) or cars.
You can cover so much more ground by bike than by foot. CaBi allows riders to rent a bike for $5 for one day or $15 for five days of use. Because riders still have to pay any hourly fees they incur after the initial 30-minutes of riding, I recommend tourists study the Bikeshare map before getting on their bikes.
Due to so many of the sites being located on National Park Service land sans Bikeshare stations, there’s an art to planning a D.C. day tour that allows you to easily pick up and drop off a bike.
It’s fun to pedal around town, but you may want to go into a museum or check out something that requries walking. You don’t want to leave the CaBi bike unsecured. Plus, you know how those hourly charges add up.
People will figure it out, though, just like the guys in this photo are doing. Go tourists, go! Welcome to Washington, D.C. Thanks for using Bikeshare!
chasingmailboxes.com 
“Where are the cherry blossoms, honey?”
“Must be around her somewhere.”
Alas, 3 weeks too early.
Don’t tell anyone but the best time to see the cherry blossoms is just after sunrise when you can walk your bike around the Tidal Basin. The light is great for taking pictures.
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That is great. The new five day passes will be good for encouraging tourists to utilize the CaBi system. It really is ridiculous that there are not better station locations in some of National Park Service areas. I’d think DDOT would just take a few parking spaces and place them in the street where DC still has control or something. Hopefully they figure it out soon.
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I agree, and I think the tourists are riding more. It’s a pretty simple system, which I like. However, I guess CaBi stations solutions are not. I love watching the Bikeshare program extend beyond the regular commuters, though.
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I spoke to 2 tourists yesterday who were trying to locate the FDR Memorial area. I pointed out to them where it was. But then they said they only had 30 min. to spare before they had to be somewhere. I told them that it would take them a bit of that time to walk around the Tidal Basin to get there. I told them if they had BIKES, they could be there in 5-10 minutes…. They agreed. Too bad they didn’t know or didn’t have time to use the Capital Bikeshare…. I agree, biking is SO much faster and easier to get around DC vs. walking!
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