Reston to Have 15 Bikeshare Stations When it Opens This Fall

Columns

by Karen Goff March 22, 2016 at 4:30 pm 20 Comments

Fairfax County has finalized the locations of the bikeshare stations that will be coming to Reston this fall.

There will be 15 stations in Reston and 14 sites in Tysons to comprise Fairfax County’s first Capital Bikeshare network.

In January, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a $1.7 million plan to bring the bikeshare network to Fairfax.

Last October, the supervisors OKed the county’s application for the Virginia Department of Transportation’s FY 2017 Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) Grant Application. The grant will give the bike program $400,000 as seed money for bike share program. The money will go to pay for needed equipment such as bicycles and station hardware.

Sharon Bulova, chair of the Board of Supervisors said at the time county’s investment will help get cars off the road, boost local economy and contribute to a healthier community.

“With the transformation of Reston and Tysons into more urban centers, Fairfax County is investing in infrastructure needed to make it easy to get around.” Bulova said.

“More people are living and working in these areas than ever before,” said Bulova. ” ‘Downtown’ areas by definition are not designed to accommodate high volumes of car traffic and parking. Creating the right atmosphere that encourages walking and biking is important for these areas to continue to be attractive and highly sought after by residents and businesses alike.”

Here is where the Reston Stations will be located:

Wiehle-Reston East Metro Plaza (two locations)
Old Reston Avenue / W&OD
North Shore Drive and Temporary Road
Sunset Hills Road
Reston Town Center Transit Station
Reston Executive Center
Market Street and Town Center Parkway
Reston Town Center Ice Rink
Reston Town Center Town Square
Reston Hospital
Reston Regional Library
New Dominion Parkway
Spectrum Center
Lake Anne Elementary
Lake Anne Village Center

To see the Tysons stations, see this post from Fairfax County.

Mike M

From the looks of things Northwest Reston will have bikeshare.
- Nyla J.
  
  South Reston already has a bike share, if you know what I mean.
  - TBex
    
    HAHAHAHA because they steal bikes because they’re poor minorities! I GET IT!
    - Chuck Morningwood
      
      Pshaw, TB. Most residents in South Reston aren’t poor minorities so your snide comment besmirches all South Reston Criminals (and victims).
      - TBex
        
        It clearly only takes 10-30% to bring down the reputation of the neighborhood. Too bad the Supreme Court struck down those restrictive covenants in the 40s, right?
  - Ming the Merciless
    
    What kind of bike is most likely to be shared in south Reston?
    
    Yours.
reston is changing

*helmets not included. good luck everybody!
- TBex
  
  You can carry a helmet in a backpack. Easier than hauling a bike around, or, for that matter, 2 tons of metal you probably want free storage for.
cRAzy

Wonder how much Boston Properties will charge to park your bike in Reston Town Center?
- TBex
  
  You don’t really park bikeshare bikes under normal circumstances. You dock them and walk away.
  - Nyla J.
    
    Or you stash the bike in the woods because you’ve used a stolen credit card to borrow the bike.
    - TBex
      
      Sure, or that. Easier and less disruptive than stashing a stolen car there.
    - TBex
      
      Also note that these bikes have GPS trackers so they are a very stupid thing to steal.
Chuck Morningwood

Interestingly, there is no BS stand in Plaza America. I’m wondering whom that management company forgot to pay off.

Also, it’s obvious that most of the traffic is going from Wiehle to RTC, yet there’s not one word about the impact on the W&OD. Are the Cycling Throngs supposed to ride down Sunset Hills?
- TBex
  
  Plaza America is not that large and fairly isolated, and isn’t any kind of transit hub. It wouldn’t make sense to make this kind of infrastructure investment there in the current climate. Bikeshare bikes and stations require maintenance and rebalancing work, so they need to placed constructively in dense pockets.
  - obxers
    
    Compared to some of the other locations, It doesn’t seem to be all that isolated, certainly has shopping and eating locations that riders could intend as a destination, it also doesn’t appear to be less of a “dense pocket” than some of the other locations.
    - TBex
      
      True. 14 and 15 seem way out there.
      
      That said, 2 is close enough to Plaza America; one could easily walk from that dock.
- TBex
  
  Also, impact on W&OD? This is not going to be that many bikes out and about at any given time. If W&OD actually gets overcrowded, that’s a great problem to have. Are you actually incapable of not complaining about everything?
Novanglus

Disappointing. No service for the office parks east of the Metro along the W&OD. We have employees who drive out from Arlington/DC, but they would take metro if they didn’t have to wait 20+ minutes for the 507 bus. Stations at Sunrise Valley & W&OD and at South Lakes Plaza would rebalance themselves (residents ride to the metro and then workers ride back)
Ihor Jarema

As a Reston resident it would be nice if there were a number of bikeshare stations placed in neighborhoods directly. RA should have advocated directly for those of us who pay the soon to be $700 assessments. How about placing some stations at RA pools or tennis courts rather than placing them only in business centers.

Subscribe to our mailing list