bikeshare sunset by Joe Flood licensed under Creative Commons.

The Springtime cycling rush appears to have struck the Washington metro area early this year as ridership boomed for the Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) system. The bikesharing network recorded 318,688 trips in February, an increase of 52.6% from the year before and setting the record for the most rides recorded in February, as celebrated by Capital Bikeshare in a post on X:

Data from Capital Bikeshare. Image by the author.

Members of CaBi once again accounted for the majority of trips (71.8%) in the region. E-bikes also maintained a slim majority as 50.7% of riders chose e-bikes instead of classic bicycles.

Data from Capital Bikeshare. Image by the author.

As is evident in the system data, Capital Bikeshare ridership is on the rise. How does CaBi’s popularity compare with bikesharing systems in other cities across the United States? The following metro areas provide public data on the use of their system: New York City (Citi Bike), Chicago (Divvy Bikes), Boston (Blue Bikes), San Francisco (Bay Wheels), and Los Angeles (Metro Bike Share). These systems are sorted by their reported 2023 annual ridership in the chart below:

Data from Capital Bikeshare, Divvy Bikes, Citi Bike, Bluebikes, Bay Wheels, and Metro Bike Share. Image by the author.

Cupid’s arrow found a home in the hearts of Bikeshare lovers, as 11,819 riders took to the streets on Valentine’s Day. This month’s Pedal Medals highlight holiday trips taken on Capital Bikeshare. See below:

Image by the author.

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 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.