Alexandria will soon become the third jurisdiction in the region with Capital Bikeshare stations. This is exciting news, because it extends the reach of the bikesharing network, and because it will greatly improve the last-mile problem for transit riders hoping to get to the Alexandria waterfront from Metrorail.

But bikesharing works best when stations are in close proximity to a lot of other stations. Since Alexandria’s 8 initial stations constitute a pretty small network on their own, it’s worth looking in to just how far away their stations will be from the rest of the Capital Bikeshare system.

The next closest stations are in Arlington, in the Crystal City / Potomac Yard area, just north of the Alexandria city border. As the map at right shows, there’s about a two-mile gap between Arlington’s southern-most station and Alexandria’s northern-most one.

Despite the gap, Old Town is the natural place for Alexandria to put its first bikesharing stations. That was a good decision. But at two-miles distant from the rest of the Capital Bikeshare network, Alexandria’s system will function mostly like an island. Ridership will be limited until connectivity increases. Therefore, the city should find funding to the fill in that gap, and provide stations in Del Ray and southern Potomac Yard, as soon as possible.