Capital Bikeshare is testing dock-free technology this fall

Capital Bikeshare is looking to go dockless.

The D.C. bikeshare is set to begin a pilot on Sept. 20 that will allow bikes to be accessed without going to a station, WAMU reports. China-based Mobike and Seattle-based Spin, which are already operating in other cities, are set to deploy 200 bikes that can be located and unlocked using apps. The bikes also self-lock to a bike rack or other spot.

The stations aren’t going away altogether, but officials also see the dockless add-on as a chance to expand bikeshare to parts of the District that are currently underserved.

“We are interested in seeing how it will work here, and whether it’s a good complement to our existing system,” Sam Zimbabwe, the chief project delivery officer at District Department of Transportation, told WAMU.

The move follows CaBi’s rollout of new features for its app last month.

The pros and cons of dockless technology were discussed by the transportation coalition DC Sustainable Transportation, Greater Greater Washington reports. Read their recommendations.