There are many e-bikes that are not docked at a station. If I got on one to move it to a station and collect points, would I still be charged the unlock fee and per minute? Trying to understand what the incentive is for bike angels to move undocked bikes to stations.
I am a “bikeshare for all” (low income) member, e-bikes for free, So for me, there is an incentive! https://ride.capitalbikeshare.com/blog/capital-bikeshare-for-all
Nice! I didn’t know that about bikeshare for all. It seems like an excellent value and program. I have the full price membership for added context.
My understanding is that you are always charged for the e-bike fees as a Bikeshare member (save for the Bikeshare for All program as mentioned), regardless of whether the e-bike is docked or undocked, just like a normal ride. The advantage of doing the Bike Angels redistribution is when you get enough points, you can use your points to redeem CaBi credit and those extra e-bike fees (unlocking, $.10 per minute, docking outside a station, etc.) start to become free because you're using credits. I've had enough points since the inception of the program, that I've never paid extra for an e-bike, so I use them all the time.
It may not make sense to move e-bikes around until you get enough points to redeem the CaBi credits, since you'll still be charged for the relevant e-bike fees.
As for moving the e-bikes if they are undocked, I haven't tried it because my few experiences with leaving an e-bike somewhere (not in a station) is that it breaks your streak, and you don't get points. So, I've never tried the reverse option of unlocking an e-bike not docked in a station in the context of trying to get points. I've done it very few times just if I needed to, but I don't think the stations I docked at had points available at the time. So I would be curious if that works, if someone has done that and wanted to comment.
