Fairfax County unveils Capital Bikeshare expansion along I‑66 trail; public feedback sought through April 24

Fairfax County transportation officials on a public meeting announced proposed additions to the Capital Bikeshare network along the I‑66 parallel trail and invited residents to submit feedback through April 24.

Hannah Kachner, Transportation Planner 2 with Fairfax County’s Active Transportation Section, described how Capital Bikeshare works across the DC metro area, summarized membership and casual-ride fees, and noted the county’s subsidized “Capital Bikeshare for All” option for people eligible for federal or state benefits. Kachner said Fairfax County currently operates 94 stations and two e-bikes and pointed to strong ridership growth in recent years. “The Capital Bikeshare system is publicly owned,” Kachner said, adding that local governments own the equipment, set station locations and contract with Lyft as the system operator.

Kachner presented a list of proposed sites for the 66 corridor, including locations at Legato Road and Dixie Hill Road; the Monument Drive Transit Center; the Fairfax County Government Center; several Oakton sites (including near Oakton High School and Platten Drive); the north side of Vienna Metro; a site near Route 29 and Nutley Street serving the Pan Am shopping center; Gallows Road locations near the Mosaic District and the W&OD Trail; Providence Forest Drive behind Merrifield Garden Center; Electric Avenue north of the W&OD; and a site in front of the county transportation department headquarters to serve staff commuters. She said most of the proposed stations would be small, about eight docks, with higher-capacity sites (about 12 docks) planned at busy metro entrances.

Kachner said the county will use pillar-style docks (individual dock units with solar panels rather than a central kiosk) that allow smaller station footprints where space is constrained. She cautioned that proposed locations are preliminary: the contractor vetted spacing and solar availability, but sites still require VDOT permitting and final approval by the Board of Supervisors for the district where each station would sit.

On funding, Kachner said the expansion is supported by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission’s I‑66 Commuter Choice grant, which reallocates express-lanes toll revenue to multimodal projects aimed at reducing congestion. During the Q&A, Zach Desjardins, with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, told a reporter the county’s funding for the project is “about $510,000.”

The presentation and the public Q&A covered operations and maintenance questions. Attendees asked whether stations would include lighting and trash receptacles; Kachner said lighting is outside the stations’ scope and trash cans are not included with the station installation, but the bikes themselves have lights that are on when undocked and the county will field lighting requests submitted separately. Desjardins said the county’s contractor is responsible for rebalancing bikes and cleaning debris immediately around stations and that residents can email DOTbicycleprograms@fairfaxcounty.gov if trash becomes a recurring problem.

Several attendees suggested alternate or additional locations (for example, Ellenwood Drive, Barrack Street and downtown Oakton), and Kachner urged participants to use an interactive survey to drop pins on suggested sites. She said the county will collect feedback from the meeting and provide it to the affected Board of Supervisors offices, which will have final say on siting decisions once VDOT permitting is complete.

Public feedback is being accepted through April 24 via an online survey (publicinput.com/cabbie-sixty6corridor), voicemail at (703) 890-5898 (code 2377) or written comments to the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, 4050 Legato Road, Suite 400, Attention: Hannah Kachner. The county said the meeting recording will be posted to YouTube and linked on the project web page.