Washington DC Gets Self-Service Bicycle Rental Service

Folks living in the nation’s capital, Washington, DC will be getting a new self-service bicycle rental service known as SmartBike. There will be ten different docking stations located around Washington, DC. In order to make use of these bikes, folk will have to purchase a $40 annual membership. Each membership comes with an ID card which can be passed in front of the card reader on the docking stations. The station will then unlock individual bikes for your use, and can be returned to any other docking stations (preferably one near your destination). Each rental will be able to last for up to 48 hours, where if you decide to keep the bike then, the company will bill you $200 for it. I wonder if Al Gore has a membership…