Metro is rolling out new ways for people to store their bikes amid a push to get more riders cycling to train stops.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority installed the first of 450 new covered bike storage lockers at the Eastern Market and Foggy Bottom Metro stations in late November. As of Saturday, a total of nine stations now have the new lockers. It’s part of an effort to get over 3.5 percent of Metro riders biking to stations by 2030.
“Metro’s new bike locker program marks a renewed commitment to making Metrorail stations easily accessible for all, whether that’s on foot, by bus, in vehicles or on wheels,” the transit agency said in a statement. “Providing safe, secure and affordable bike parking extends the reach of the rail system.”
Metro’s current lockers are decades-old, carry a $120 annual rental fee and can only be opened with a physical key. The system also has free, secured bike storage rooms at several stops.
The new on-demand lockers will be installed at 73 of Metro’s 98 stations. They cost customers five cents an hour, capped at $1 per day, and are controlled by an app, BikeLink.
Along with the new lockers, the transit authority is adding 100 self-locking bike racks, 50 oversized lockers — which can hold cargo bikes — 75 repair stations and 600 traditional racks across the system.
The agency has not released a full project timeline, but said in a statement that everything will be operational by the end of 2027. Specifics will be released on the Metro website as the upgrades are made.
In total, the project will cost $7.3 million.
The Eastern Market station has four of the new double-sided lockers, with a capacity to store up to eight bikes, and is expected to get one oversized locker in March.
Foggy Bottom’s station has five double-sided lockers, holding 10 bikes total, and is also slated to get one oversized locker in March.
When a reporter visited those stations early Friday afternoon, only one locker was occupied.
Improving how bikes are stored at stations is only part of how transit officials want to encourage more cyclists to take the Metro. The transit authority’s 2025 Annual Transformation Report references an effort to better integrate bikes across the train system. For example, Metro’s 8000-series trains, set to hit tracks in 2027, have dedicated space for bikes.
Washington Area Bicyclist Association organizer Seth Grimes said there is probably higher demand for bike storage than what Metro is planning to roll out, and he hopes future expansions will take into account cyclists’ feedback.
Grimes said the District has made good progress in expanding its bike infrastructure over the past decade, such as implementing more bike lanes on roadways, but said integrating bike accessibility into the public transit system still needs work.
“There are additional steps that we’d like to see in the future,” Grimes said, but the new parking options are a step in the right direction.
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