Bikeshare Beat: Capital Bikeshare plows through the snow in January

Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) users biked through both snowstorms and sunshine in January as the regional bike network recorded 238,834 trips to begin the new calendar year. CaBi’s annual members accounted for 74.1% of all rides taken in January 2024, contributing towards a 17% increase in overall ridership from January 2023.

Users of the cycling system once again showed a slight preference for e-bikes, which made up 51.2% of all trips in January. One notable feature of CaBi’s e-bike fleet is their versatility to also serve as dockless vehicles. All models can end a ride outside of a designated docking station for an additional fee. Some observations on Capital Bikeshare’s dockless e-bikes:

• 67.7% of all e-bike rides ended at a docking station, while 32.3% of e-bike rides were locked as dockless vehicles.

• Of e-bikes that began their rides at a designated station, 79.4% finished their trip at a docking station.

• Meanwhile, for e-bikes that began as dockless vehicles, only 40.9% of rides ended their trips at a docking station. 59.1% of e-bikes that began dockless, remained dockless at the end of their trip.

As we’ve reported for the past several months, Capital Bikeshare has experienced dramatic increases in ridership each year following the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in setting the all-time annual ridership record in 2023. At this rate, the bike network may see an annual ridership of over 5 million trips for the first time in 2024. Here’s the path to 5 million, below:

Cyclists “weather”ed through a peculiar month for the Washington metro area. The region experienced both 3-5 inches of snow on January 19th and the hottest January day ever recorded on January 26th. How did volatile weather patterns impact Capital Bikeshare ridership? Find out below as we celebrate these Winter Warriors in the latest edition of our Pedal Medals:

What did we miss? Reach out to editor@ggwash.org and let us know what you’d like to see in our monthly breakdowns, ideas for the future of the CaBi, missed pun opportunities, or lighthearted Pedal Medals to award.

Since its inception in September 2010, Capital Bikeshare has moved millions of riders around the Greater Washington metro area and is an affordable and efficient mode of transportation for residents and tourists alike. CaBi publishes its system data online each month, providing insights into ridership for the month prior and highlighting the rapid growth in user engagement around the city. All dissemination of this information by Greater Greater Washington is in good-faith compliance with the Capital Bikeshare Data License Agreement.