How to Use Capital Bikeshare in Washington DC

Learn how to use the Capital Bikeshare system in Washington, DC. And perhaps as importantly, when to use a standard bicycle rental instead.

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[@TripHacksDC]

Lots of information in this video is now OUT OF DATE. The good news is that I have an updated video that you can watch now: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6mwmX1tqqqVZ7M

[@bikesharedude]

I chat with people looking at the bike share stations and I typically recommend they start off with pay-as-you-go single trip passes ($4 for under 59 minutes sessions), which is fairly straight forward.

[@TripHacksDC]

Great tip. $4 for up to an hour of riding is a nice easy way to understand it.

[@bikesharedude]

To further explain the 59 minute rule, I note that the first hour is cheap, but the prices go up for the second and third hours.

[@bikesharedude]

Also, I often see users who purchased $8 unlimited pass but don't realize you have to re-swipe your card at each subsequent station to get a new access number (they usually are holding their original printout from their first station).

[@TripHacksDC]

That's a good point. I haven't really observed this myself but could see how the need to re-swipe each time might not be obvious.

[@artcurious807]

Another good video. Look forward to coming the DC. I used bike share in Tel-Aviv and it operated along the same lines and pricing set up. There are a few downsides to all of these bike share programs though, the bikes tend to be clunky, some bikes I found were in bad need of maintenance and bikes pile up in the popular areas while other stations remain almost empty. If your a city planner and your reading this please understand that bike share is not fire and forget, in order for these programs to work consistently you have to hire people to do maintenance and transport extra bikes to depleted stations. Also, it would benefit all bike programs to just hire some data analysts once a year to plot out maximum and minimum areas of usage. This way you can put stations in the places that will meet peak demand and not have bikes sitting around. China had a huge problem with this when everyone used their bike share program on the holidays and thousands of bikes got dumped in the most popular areas.

[@hungarito7997]

Hi Rob, extremely useful your videos!!I just comeback from DC and I found everything as described on your videos. Amazing City with nice people.Thanks a lot for keep this channel!!Can't wait to go back there.

[@TripHacksDC]

Glad to hear it was a great trip!

[@havendavis1961]

Thanks for the info!

[@kailash680]

Seems it would be great to have an US Sim card for touring with the bike. Do you have recommendations where to get one?

[@aimeemartin1495]

Hi Rob! I love your videos and have just about all of them in preparation for an upcoming trip to DC! I wanted to ask you, if you rent a bike from another company (not Capital Bikeshare) how do you dock your bike safely and are there typically enough docks for non Capital Bikeshare bikes?

[@TripHacksDC]

Only Capital BIkeshare bikes go in Capital Bikeshare docks. There aren't many other bike companies around anymore, most of them switched to electric scooters.

[@tinaduong5401]

Thank you for this video. Super helpful!!

[@TripHacksDC]

Happy to help.

[@amyhu2905]

very thorough, thx for the tips!

[@TripHacksDC]

Happy to help! Hopefully you have good luck when you use Capital Bikeshare.

[@amandarutledge6333]

We're students making a documentary about biking. May we use this video as b-roll?

[@TripHacksDC]

Yes, but please make sure to follow the attribution rules described under the Creative Commons license.

[@GretaYLSz]

Hi, Rob. I have a question about the content at 4:18 in the video. You mentioned something about billing zip code associated with my credit card. I am from Taiwan. My credit cards were issued by the banks in my country. Does that mean I can't use Capitol Bikeshare？ Oh! Thanks again for the video. You are very thoughtful. Appreciate that.

[@TripHacksDC]

Try the Capital Bikeshare app or Lyft app instead.

[@GretaYLSz]

Okay. Thank you. 🙂

[@thweethtoo]

I'm looking to rent 2 bikes for 24 hours for something like $17, it there any additional cost ?

[@TripHacksDC]

If you want to rent a bike for 24 consecutive hours Capital Bikeshare is a bad option. It's really best for short-rides. For a 24 hour rental, try Bike and Roll instead - there is a link in the video description.

[@urria26]

Thanks for the helpful video. We plan to take advantage of this option on our upcoming trip to D.C. Do you have any thoughts/suggestions about electric kick scooters (Lime, Bird, Skip, Uber, etc...)? Thanks.

[@TripHacksDC]

The scooters are a fun novelty, but they are much more expensive than Capital Bikeshare. So for longer rides and daily commuting they're not worth the extra cost in many cases. For a couple of short rides on vacation, go for it.

[@urria26]

​@@TripHacksDC​That makes sense. Maybe if our legs get tired of pedaling, we will try them out. We like the idea of staying outdoors, soaking in the sights, as long as it isn't raining. Once again, thank you for your valuable, local insight.

[@joenmaddy]

Thank you so much!

[@TripHacksDC]

Absolutely!

[@hboomer6091]

Does this work for non-American visitors? You mentioned the zip code required to pay for it - what if I don’t have that?

[@TripHacksDC]

Not 100% sure about this but I think you enter your country first and then the address is formatted for that county.

[@deathfromasian]

Can you cheat the system, like buy a whole day pass, keep the rides under 30 minutes and then just dock and re rent a new bike to ride for another 30 minutes lol

[@TripHacksDC]

You could do that if you want.

[@taliaorencel5553]

Very helpful thank you!]

[@TripHacksDC]

Happy to help!

[@VecterZ]

Does it matter which dock we drop it off by? Or do we have to drop it off at the dock where you originally got it from?

[@TripHacksDC]

Nope. Any open dock.

[@xxxyyy9836]

Is it true that docks quite ofthe are broken and You can not return a bike in an apropriate way (need to call service then)?

[@TripHacksDC]

In 8 years as a member I have never had to call for service (knock on wood).

[@microcosm1957]

Can I just hop from one bike to another to avoid extra fees?

[@TripHacksDC]

Yes. That is a commonly used strategy.

[@m4rk05R5]

Hello Rob. Thanks for the job. Could you tell something about the Mt. Vernon trail? Because, i'd like to ride..(DC until Alexandria). I don't know if, i will rent a bike (bike and roll), or just use the capital bikeshare.. I appreciate your tips!

[@TripHacksDC]

DC to Alexandria is an easy ride, mostly flat, and takes about 45 minutes. I wouldn't personally do it on bikeshare because the bikes are heavy and not too comfortable, but it could be done.

[@m4rk05R5]

Trip Hacks DC I see. Thanks for all. Best regards from Brazil!

[@jburd7608]

Thanks for all your great videos. This one especially. I was planning on using the bike share and I thought it was only $8 for 24 hours use. Wow that would be cheap. My question is if I pick up a bike and dock it under 30 mins and then grab another bike or same one and start again do I get a fresh 30 mins or is time kept track of and totaled at end of all rides? Is 2 thirty min rides actually an hour total and I would have to pay the usage fees.

[@TripHacksDC]

You get a fresh 30 min every time you dock.

[@elevatorelectricalenthusiasm]

Skip to 3:38 if you want to see how to use it