It now seems that registration for Washington DC’s bike sharing scheme went live last week as the United States capital moved towards joining other cities who also have a bike sharing club. Right now two of the most popular bike sharing clubs can be found in Paris and London.

People in Washington can now register for membership in the Capital BikeShare scheme. This scheme is likely to be launched in late September. When it first gets launched, it will be at a discounted rate of $50 instead of the usual $75.

The Capital Bikeshare scheme is has about 1100 bikes at 114 stations. Due to this, the scheme will be the largest of its kind in the United States. It is also a huge expansion of the downtown SmartBikeDC program, which launched in 2008.

People will be able to enjoy annual, monthly and daily memberships. These memberships are available, not only for residents in the area, but for visitors to Washington DC as well. Paul DeMaio, from the bike sharing consultancy MetroBike, said that the urban core of this region will be changed.

This new scheme in Washington DC comes only months after the launch of London’s Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, which launched in late July. The program in London is currently only available to registered users, but will soon become available to the “walk up” public.

Reports suggest that, by August 12, more than 100,000 journeys have been made on the system in London. More than 44,000 people are signed up with the program. Now that this program is starting to expand even more, it’s possible that other cities around the world will soon take up the idea.