Prices, along with your mileage, may vary if you use Capital Bikeshare — but you can definitely expect to pay more next month.
Starting on Aug. 1, the cost of most annual memberships and rides on the popular silver e-bikes will increase. What riders pay will depend on what membership categories and what type of bikes they choose to ride. Rides on the “classic” red Capital Bikeshare bikes — which are powered solely by the rider’s feet — will remain the same across the board for all members at five cents per minute.
Under the new plan, the standard annual membership — which includes free unlocks, fare-free shorter rides on unpowered bikes, and a discount on the per-minute e-bike fare — will cost $120 dollars, a $25 increase over the current rate.
Day passes will go up by $2 to $10 and a 30-day pass will go from $20 to $25.
The price for corporate memberships will go from $50 to $70 annually per rider.
Fees to ride the popular silver e-bikes will increase from 10 cents per minute to 15 cents per minute for most users.
Rate hikes for the Capital Bikeshare for All program, which is income-based and designed to be affordable, are more conservative. The annual $5 fee for those users will remain unchanged at $5, but the per-minute rate for e-bikes will increase from 0 to 10 cents per minute.
The Capital Bikeshare blog explains that the “new pricing structure” reflects the program’s “unprecedented” growth, with a single-day ridership record of 35,569 during this year’s Cherry Blossom Festival. In October 2024, the bikeshare program logged an all-time high of 725,346 trips for the month.
Some riders might experience sticker shock at the bike docks. But Seth Grimes, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association’s D.C. organizer, says Capital Bikeshare is still a good deal. Annual memberships for New York City’s Citi Bike, for example, cost $219.99 per year. In Chicago, an annual Divvy bikeshare membership costs $143.90 if paid in full for a year.
“Capital Bikeshare is far more affordable for everyone than the bikeshare systems in those cities because we have great support from local governments,” said Grimes. He added, “We’re especially grateful for the Bikeshare for All program that makes bikeshare cost very little for income-qualified residents, people who are financially struggling.”
Grimes told WTOP the bikes are handy not just for use on their own, but for linking other forms of transit.
“Taking bikeshare to and from a Metro station, to a bus stop, and that kind of stuff,” Grimes said.
According to Capital Bikeshare, the increased pricing structure will enhance Capital Bikeshare’s ability to add more e-bikes to its fleet, add and improve existing bike docking stations, and keep the e-bikes charged.
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