Capital Bikeshare is coming to Mason District
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is proposing to add 16 stations to the Capital Bikeshare network in Annandale, Seven Corners, and Bailey’s Crossroads.
FCDOT invites the community to a virtual meeting on the plan on Aug. 22, at 7 p.m.
The proposed Capital Bikeshare stations include the following locations in the Mason and Braddock districts:
Annandale
- Heritage Drive and Rectory Drive
- Ravensworth Drive and Jayhawk Drive
- Daniels Avenue and Poplar Street
- Little River Turnpike and Annandale Road
- Little River Turnpike and Medford Drive
- Americana Drive and Americana Place
- Patriot Drive and Inverton Road
Seven Corners
- Cherry Street and Lawndale Drive
- Peyton Randolph Drive and Willston Drive
- Patrick Henry Drive and Willston Drive
- Patrick Henry Drive and Brook Drive
Bailey’s Crossroads
- Glen Carlyn Drive and Argyle Drive
- George Mason Drive and Seminary Road
- Carlin Springs Road and Columbia Pike
- Columbia Pike and Carlin Springs Road
- Route 7 and S. Jefferson Street
Capital Bikeshare has more than 80 stations in Fairfax County, mostly in Merrifield, Reston, and Tysons. E-bikes were added in March 2023.
Bike riders can access a bike by using an app to unlock a bike at a Capital Bikeshare docking station. A single ride on a classic bike is $1 plus 5 cents a minute. A day pass is $8, and a yearly membership is $95.
To access the Aug. 22 meeting, log in on Microsoft Teams here; download Teams here. Or join in here. Meeting ID: 260 540 206 488; Passcode: eNQBG7. To dial in, call 571-429-5982; phone conference ID: 915 624 530#.
FDCOT will accept comments through Sept. 6. An online survey will be available after the meeting on the Fairfax County Capital Bikeshare page, or community members may leave a recorded message at 703-890-5898, code 10501.
This is great, the southwest side of the old DC diamond is finally getting some stations.
I do wonder if ‘Carlin Springs Road & Columbia Pike’ / ‘Columbia Pike & Carlin Springs Road’ is a misprint (i.e. one of those Columbias should be a Leesburg) or if there are going to be two stations there on either side of the intersection (that’s how the bus stops work there after all)
This is an absolutely excellent development. While 7 stations in Annandale may not seem like a lot, bringing in the infrastructure and showing the appetite for more mixed transit options will hopefully lead to the expansion of bike and pedestrian options in the area. I’ll definitely be riding as soon as the stations are available, and will be at the community meeting to show support. Thanks for getting the word out with this article.
How does Columbia pike get almost completely ignored
Can’t wait to see all the Ring videos with criminals on these bikes.
I’m sorry, I’m confused, what do you mean? What do rental bikes have to do with criminals?
Finally – given that CaBi is incredibly popular and useful in the area (it recorded a staggering number of rides this last month and continues to grow in usage month over month) it has been a significant disappoint that, until this announcement, Capital Bikeshares has almost entirely missed our district. Mason District has a lot of potential for bike usage, especially as the trail and sidewalk network continues to expand (Sleepy Hollow Road completion, Little River Turnpike East and West pathways coming up very soon, even the Annandale Greenway) and it has been very notable that there were, until this announcement, no stations in our area. I thank Fairfax County for rectifying this situation!
To give you some history, there is only so much in the budget for the Capital Bikeshare bikes/stations, so the county decided to place them in semi urban places first (Merrifield, Reston, for example). There was talk about Annandale getting it for a few years since it was close enough to Merrifield, but they had to wait to decide on where to place them and to get the funding.
The locations in Annandale are almost all in residential areas. If I wanted to go to the Library or The Block and spend an hour or so, there are no stations nearby to dock the bike. I would continue to be charged and it won’t be as safe as having a station to dock the bike so I’m not responsible for the time I spend shopping or running errands.
It’s good that there are stations coming to Annandale, but at some time they need to expand to commercial areas as well.
I do agree that more stations would be good, but this is a nice start. Good call on putting one at the library, and something along John Marr would make a lot of sense. Hopefully this is just the first stage and more stations will be added in the future.
Raj – I agree. From observation, CaBi station locations tend to spread outward from an original source – Arlington and Alexandria and Falls Church have many of them. To work, a CaBi station needs to be reachable within some estimated radius of another one. If you look at the current placement of the stations, they virtually surround Mason District, a great source of concern for me and others. If the stations are used (which I think is very likely) the County will seek to expand them to fill in the network.
Capital Bikes create a litter problem, blocking sidewalks where customers leave them. They are never picked up quickly. Why would you want them?
are they hiring for people to collect the bikes if left stranded? kinda intrested
This is great and terrible. We are not planned as an urban community with roadways and dedicated lanes for bicycles. With the ever-increasing traffic and housing, the county must improve roadways like Gallows Road to make it more accessible to bikes. Otherwise this is just a recipe for disaster.
I question some of the locations picked for Annandale? Why would they think Americana drive would be a good spot?!! What is the criteria for each location that they are thinking about?!?