While ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft might surge their prices during Wednesday’s unprecedented full-day Metro shutdown, Capital Bikeshare is moving its rates in the opposite direction.
Single-day memberships, which are usually $8, will be free during the Metro closure throughout the Bikeshare network, which covers DC, Arlington, Alexandria, and Montgomery County, the service announced Tuesday evening. The free period goes into effect at midnight—same time Metro will close—and last until the rail system reopens across Bikeshare’s 370 stations across the region. While the one-day memberships are free, Bikeshare’s normal usage fees will still apply. The first 30 minutes of a ride are free, after which charges apply.
And because the Metro shutdown is expected to put extreme demand on Bikeshare’s 3,000-bike fleet, employees will also set up corrals—spots where riders can drop off their bikes without fear of being dock-blocked—at 21st and I streets, Northwest; 13th Street and New York Avenue, Northwest; and Columbus Circle next to Union Station.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
