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Capital Bikeshare launches discounted annual memberships for D.C. college students

The memberships cost $25, versus $85 for regular annual memberships

By Andrew Giambrone
A Capital Bikeshare station, filled with red bikes, in Foggy Bottom.
A Capital Bikeshare station in Foggy Bottom, near George Washington University
Shutterstock

Those shared red-and-yellow bikes around town are getting much cheaper for local college students. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced Thursday that the Capital Bikeshare service is now offering discounted annual memberships for students who are enrolled at universities with flagship campuses in the city, such as George Washington University, Georgetown University, and Howard University. The student memberships cost $25 for the full year as compared to $85 for the full year for regular Capital Bikeshare users.

Universities have to join the program for their students to participate, and DDOT says it will work with school officials to set things up. In a statement, Jeff Marootian, the director of the department, said the new memberships will create “opportunities for thousands of college students to affordably travel across all eight wards of the District using Capital Bikeshare.”

Capital Bikeshare, which is operated by Lyft-owned transportation provider Motivate and launched in 2010, today has more than 550 stations and 4,500 bikes throughout the D.C. area. Still, it’s not the only option that college students (and others) can use to get around: The city has given out permits for over 5,000 shared electric bikes, scooters, and mopeds.