The Capital Bikeshare corporate program allows employers to offer subsidized Capital Bikeshare memberships to employees at a discounted corporate rate. This is a great benefit to offer to employees if your organization is looking to provide access to various commuting options, improve employee health and wellness, and/or enhance workplace sustainability. Setting up the program is an easy task, and will give your employees access to the iconic red bikes and the new black e-bikes in no time!
1. Reach Out to Your ATP Rep
Your Arlington Transportation Partners (ATP) representative can provide you with information on Capital Bikeshare’s corporate program and help determine if it’s right for your organization. We can also create a plan alongside you to gather interest from employees, execute program roll-out, and promote the program to employees.
Not sure who your ATP representative is? Contact us and we’ll point you in the right direction.
2. Gauge Interest
Gauging interest among employees can provide a baseline for who might enroll in the program, so you know how much the benefit may cost your organization upon roll-out. You can simply email employees to inquire about interest or ATP can help by conducting an employee survey.
As an alternative to employee surveys, ATP can also analyze opportunities via a zip code map to help you identify how many employees live in an area with access to Capital Bikeshare or live within a biking distance from the office.
It’s important to note that while Capital Bikeshare’s corporate program requires interested employers to have a minimum of 10 employees, there is no minimum purchase requirement. This means whether you have one employee or 500 employees who want to receive memberships, you can still enroll and only pay for employees who sign up for the benefit.
3. Choose Your Pricing
An annual Capital Bikeshare membership normally costs $85 per year for an individual, but when your company enrolls in the corporate program, the price is automatically reduced to $50 (a 41% discount) as long as you agree to subsidize a portion of the cost for employees. The program offers two different pricing options so that you can choose what works best for your organization.
The chart above highlights the two different pricing options. As you can see, companies offering a full subsidy give their employees access to Capital Bikeshare for free for the full year, while companies offering a partial subsidy allow their employees to sign up at a steeply discounted rate (71% savings).
What's covered
This covers an employee’s annual membership fee which will renew 12 months after the employee’s enrollment date and all rides that the employee takes that are under 30 minutes in duration. That can take an employee as far as six miles!
What's not covered
While the employer covers the cost of the annual membership, the employee may be responsible for certain costs if they want to ride longer or upgrade to an e-bike. An individual will incur usage fees for rides taken that are 30 minutes or longer (pro tip: dock surf to ride longer at no cost). If an employee upgrades from a regular Capital Bikeshare bike (red bikes) to a Capital Bikeshare e-bike (black bikes), they’ll simply pay a $1 unlock fee. If an employee using an e-bike opts to lock it to a public bike rack instead of docking it at a station, they’ll incur an additional $1 fee
4. Apply for Your Account
Now that you know people are interested and what pricing works best for you, it’s time to apply! Interested employers can fill out Capital Bikeshare’s quick and easy online enrollment form and ATP can guide you through what information will be requested. A few things to know when you fill out the form:
- Who will be responsible for managing the benefit (this person approves new members and acts as the program manager)
- Who will handle the billing
- Will employees be required to use their work email address to sign up
Once completed, Capital Bikeshare will provide you with a unique passcode for employees to use to receive their membership and a custom flyer to help you promote the new benefit. At this point, employees will be able to sign up at any point in the year and you’ll simply receive a monthly invoice for any new enrollments during the billing period.
5. Spread the Word
Congratulations! You’ve done the hard part and the next step is to get your employees on board with ATP’s assistance. You can tell them about the benefit through any channel of your choice— whether that’s emailing the custom flyer to employees or riding a bike around the office shouting that Capital Bikeshare is now available (no judgement).
To assist with the benefit’s roll-out, ongoing promotion, and management, ATP can:
- Draft a sample announcement email for your company to share the new benefit with staff
- Host an in-person or virtual event to encourage enrollment
- Develop a promotion plan to encourage ongoing usage and renewals
- Provide usage reports
- Coordinate with Capital Bikeshare on your behalf
With ATP supporting the program’s promotion and management, you’ll have more time for other day-to-day priorities.
It's that Easy
Providing big discounts to the region’s bikeshare system is easier than you had initially thought, no? Employees love taking advantage of this benefit, and we won’t say anything if you sign yourself up, too.
Editor's Note: This blog was first published in October 2016, and has been republished with new information written byMarie Cox.
Photo Credit: Sam Kittner/Kittner.com