Capital Bikeshare Raises Fees on "Casual" Members - Locals Unscathed

Capital Bikeshare is one of the largest bike sharing companies in the country - it has 1,100 bicycles at 116 stations all around the DC area, and it celebrated its one millionth user at its one year birthday back in September.  The system has drawn accolades from government, environmental and city planning officials - but it's not cheap to operate.  As of May 2011, it cost $41,500 to install a station with 6 docks and $49,300 each for larger stations with 14 docks.  Each bicycles costs about $1,000, and the annual operating cost per bike is $1,860.  To cover those costs, Capital Bikeshare announced yesterday that they would be raising their prices for "casual" members - or the tourists among us:

Starting November 3, 2011, the cost of a 24-hour membership will rise from $5 to $7.  Though the first 30 minutes of every ride will remain free for all members, usage fees for casual members (24-hour and 3-day memberships) will increase by 33%.

However, "as a thank-you to the 18,000+ members who have made Capital Bikeshare such a success in such a short amount of time, the cost of annual and monthly memberships will remain unchanged at $75 and $25, respectively.  In addition, usage fees for annual and monthly members will remain the same." Great news for locals.

If you're interested in just a casual membership, check out the new rates below:

Ride Time	Total Casual Member Usage Fee
0-30 min	FREE!
31-60 min	$2.00
61-90 min	$6.00
91-120 min	$14.00
2 - 2.5 hours	$22.00
2.5 - 3 hours	$30.00
3 - 3.5 hours	$38.00
3.5 - 4 hours	$46.00
4 - 4.5 hours	$54.00
4.5 - 5 hours	$62.00
5 - 5.5 hours	$70.00
5.5 - 6 hours	$78.00
6 - 6.5 hours	$86.00
6.5 - 24 hours	$94.00

One final change come November 3rd - the current 5-day pass will be discontinued, and now Capital Bikeshare will offer a 3-day pass for $15, a change that "better aligns with the average stay of visitors to the metro region," according to the outfit.