Rep. Jack Kingston
District 1
Source: Jack Kingston
According to The Hill, a D.C. based newspaper, Washington lawmakers may end a bike-sharing program, which as of March had only been used by 175 staffers since its inception.
The Chief Administrative Office (CAO) spent $23,000 to lease and maintain 30 bicycles beginning last July. Eight months later, the bikes had been used by less than 3 percent of the House’s staff. The 175 people signed up for the program have used the bikes a total of 300 times. That means some people have likely used the program only once, and each bike has been ridden about 10 times.
That data was provided by the CAO in a March press release. The office does not have more current data on the program's use.
Staffers suggest the program isn't being used because it's inconvenient. To pick up a bike, riders must first pick up a key from the First Call center in the Longworth House Office Building. They then must take their key to one of the six bike racks stationed around Capitol Hill. After returning the bike, they have to bring the key back to the First Call center in Longworth. That means using the bike-sharing system can be a time-sucking enterprise.
Because the bikes were leased and not purchased, if the program is discontinued, the House will not have to resell the bikes, but can simply cancel its lease. Some Republicans have criticized the program.
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) calls it a "silly" program and said the hours make it unattractive to staffers.
"The bike program is so silly," he said on the House floor last month. "Why is it silly? It is not available, except for on weekdays from 8 to 5. So when I have an employee come to work, I expect them to be working, not riding bikes provided for by hardworking taxpayers."
The CAO requested $200,000 in this year's legislative-branch appropriations bill to purchase such a system that would require electronic wiring and more construction to implement. That spurred Kingston to offer a motion to recommit the bill to committee and strike $100,000 in funding from the program. Kingston's motion passed, but it only cut money from the section of the bill that the bike program is under, and not the actual program itself. It is still unclear what area of House operations will be affected by the decrease in funding.
Source: Thehill.com
