Charles Hurt, 'Washington Times' Columnist, Calls Capital Bikeshare 'Broken-Down Socialism'

WASHINGTON -- A columnist at The Washington Times touched a nerve with an op/ed deriding Capital Bikeshare, calling the system, which recently marked its 2 millionth ride, "broken-down socialism."

According to Charles Hurt:

For a small membership fee, users can pick up a bike at any of 165 such docking stations and proudly pedal themselves to work, school or to pick up Chinese food. The little black wire basket on the front is sturdy enough to carry a briefcase or a carry-out order of tofu. The bikes are shaped like the old-timey “girl bikes” without the crossbar, making them suitable for un-liberated women in skirts as well as these so-called “metrosexual” males everybody keeps talking about in these parts.

DCist expertly parsed Hurt's column declaring that the "majority of Hurt's column is just dumb, but his conclusion is weirdly insulting."

Washington City Paper's Alex Baca chimes in, describing Hurt's column as sexist, too.

Many people agreed, and took to Twitter to skewer Hurt. Click through to see some of the reaction.

This post has been updated to include Baca's take on Hurt's column.