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.
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.
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.
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
