Photo by DDOT DC on Flickr.

Starting Saturday, Capital Bikeshare will allow users to buy a single trip for $2. The move will help a lot of people get around during SafeTrack in the short term, and it’s likely to encourage more riders well after Metro service is back to normal.

Until now, Bikeshare has only been available on a membership basis. You “join” the system for a set period of time (as short as 24 hours or as long as a year), and get unlimited access to bikes during your membership. Provided all of your rides are under 30 minutes, you’ll never pay more than the cost of your membership.

If you’re a year-round daily Bikeshare commuter, this works great. If you’re a tourist who wants to take multiple trips while sightseeing for a day on the Mall, this works great. But if you’re someone who’s just been dumped off a broken train at Cleveland Park and want to make it downtown for a meeting, and you’re not a CaBi member, you’re unlikely to spend $8 (the cost of a 24 hour membership) to take just one ride.

The $2 fare, however, which is only slightly more than the cost of a bus ride, makes Bikeshare a much more compelling option.

Bikeshare does have a daily key option, where $10 gets you both a key and a 24-hour pass. After you use that first pass, 24-hour passes cost another $7 each time you use the key (which you pay for with your credit card, which CaBi files after that initial purchase).

That $7 charge, though, is pretty steep. The new single-trip fare makes much more sense if you’re using Bikeshare for just one ride or two.

Ideally, Bikeshare will one day find a way to incorporate single-fare pricing into the Day Key option and users could load money onto their keys, much in the same way they might with their SmarTrip cards.

Bikeshare isn’t always the answer for every commuter. But more pricing options are better than fewer and during SafeTrack, when regional Metro woes will prove disruptive for so many people. Bikeshare’s willingness to make its fleet available to as many potential riders as possible is laudable.

Bikeshare has indicated that this is a pilot program, but incorporating the single-trip fare as a permanent option has the potential to woo even more riders to the system.