‘Just Another Sight’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
The Crystal City Business Improvement District just announced a new program coming in the Spring of 2010: a 100-bike Commuter Hub, which will offer bike rentals to commuters, tourists, or residents. The Commuter Hub will be located at 220 Twentieth Street, a new LEED-certified apartment building in Crystal City. Revolution Cycles will manage the retail and rental business, which will also offer repairs and bike accessories.
Bike rental establishments in our region typically cater to tourists, who can bike around the monuments and parks while sightseeing. But the Commuter Hub is marketing itself differently– by capitalizing on its location near area trails and bike routes, it offers nearby office workers a chance to rent a bike and explore the trails during lunch. I’m all for opening up bike options to more area residents, and think that this could be a great option for people interested in trying out biking around town without a huge commitment.
Full press release after the jump.
Crystal City (Arlington, VA) – The Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID), in partnership with Revolution Cycles and Vornado/Charles E. Smith (VNO), has developed a new cycling concept that will launch in Crystal City this spring. Designed to nurture “Bike Culture” in Crystal City, this project makes great use of Crystal City’s cycling assets, including bike lanes and easy bike trail access. Revolution Cycles Commuter Hubwill have 100 bikes available for residents, businesses and guests to use for touring the area and riding for fitness on the local trails.
“Cycling is a focus for Crystal City because it hits three of our top programs – ACTIVE, ACCESSIBLE, and GREEN,” said Angela Fox, Crystal City BID President and CEO. “Bringing in a brand like Revolution Cycles to help design and manage the program while making creative use of a new Vornado retail space in Crystal City is exactly the kind of effective partnership we aim to broker.”
Housed in VNO’s newest residential building, 220 Twentieth Street, this program makes lunchtime trail rides easy while filling a void for cycling accessories and repairs.
“This unique partnership provides us with the opportunity to blend our retail and bike share program experience to further our goal of promoting cycling and its many benefits to more of the community,” said Revolution Cycles Founder and President Mike Hamannwright. “Crystal City is an ideal location to launch our new “Commuter Hub” concept: a retail shop focused on bike sharing, rentals, accessories and repairs.”
To ensure that people can experience the Crystal City cycling assets, the Crystal City BID hosts an average of four bicycle-related events throughout the year, including the recent Bike DC and the now famous U.S. Air Force Cycling Classic. The Crystal City BID also works to maximize its access to great trails via the connector at the Crystal City WaterPark and south to Four Mile Run. Cycling is green, healthy, and fun!
Great news. How does this mesh with Arlington’s expanding Bike Share program? Is it independent of that system?
Ian, the press release makes it seem like this is independent of the Bike Share program. In this Commuter Hub program, someone would rent a bike for an hourly or daily fee, and then return it back to the same location. So it’s not great for commuting or running errands, but more for a recreational trail ride in the area.
Revolution Cycles Commuter Hub will be rooted in offering people-managed bike sharing in addition to providing rentals, a full service department and a full complement of cycling accessories. Local businesses will be able to take advantage of this new concept to provide an easy, enjoyable and green option for their employees for running errands in the Crystal City community. The idea is for Revolution Cycles Commuter Hub to be a lot more to the community than simply a bike rental joint; the idea is to get more people on bikes for all purposes, everyday. Recreational trail rides are also highly encouraged for both the residents and visitors of Crystal City!
ah…
the bicycle Field of Dreams
if you build it
they will come
rentals are great!
bike sharing is awesome!
now we need more trails
and more understanding by the car culture on how to behave around cyclists
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I’m all for this idea but another revolution cycles? They have four stores and only one of them has anyone that knows how to fix a bike. If pinky mans the store himself I’d go every day.
I thought you might like this :)
Two wrongs don’t make a right, but two Wrights made an airplane. :)