A Well-Organized Bike-Sharing Program Could (Finally) Be On Its Way to Los Angeles County

Photo by tsuacctnt via Flickr

Bike-sharing programs are finally on their way to Los Angeles County, but whether they will be well-coordinated and integrated is up to Metro. These programs—which have popped up in Paris, Portland and Minneapolis—allow users to swipe a credit card and rent a bike for a short jaunt from one (hopefully) well-placed bike kiosk to another.

The infamous sprawl of the Southland and its many municipalities makes it a challenge compared to other cities. That's why Metro is hosting meetings to think about the big picture: what would a county-wide bike-sharing program look like?

Already, three cities have plans and funding in the works: Santa Monica, Long Beach and Los Angeles (in downtown and maybe Hollywood). Metro hosted a meeting yesterday to discuss how its role in coordinating and integrating these cities' (and future cities') plans, according to LA Streetsblog.

Metro wants to make sure that cities are able to integrate their technology, according to a handout on its website. That would make the systems more useful if it expands: if Venice one day decided to get into bike-sharing, a well-coordinated system would allow you could take a bike in Venice and drop it off at a kiosk in Santa Monica. Metro also wants to start thinking about bike-sharing, so that it can start looking for funding and set up kiosks at its own stations.

But Metro’s bike share strategy needs full approval of the board before it becomes policy, Streetsblog reports.

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By Emma G. Gallegos in News on January 19, 2012 2:30 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

328la

Hollywood would be a great place to start this bike share program, the tourists and residents would love it. Then the city should shut down Hollywood Blvd to car traffic, only allowing buses and taxis, create a dedicated bike lane and expand the sidewalk. Hollywood Blvd could become a pedestrian/bicycle mall, with mass transit and taxi service still available. Private cars would be eliminated from the equation. It could be a model for many popular thoroughfares in LA. Ventura Blvd, Larchmont Blvd, Sunset Blvd in Silver Lake and Spring Street in DTLA.

Mason Stockstill

these are a smash in Paris; they're all over the place. Parisians use their Metro cards to check a bike out, like our TAP cards. Of course we already know that Metro is unable to implement a systemwide debit card system, which has been in effect in other metropolises for decades, so one is not hopeful they will be able to make bike rentals work. PS Venice is not a city.

Emma_Gallegos

Tell that to Italy!

But, seriously, my point was that if one day Venice (or any other neighborhood abutting another city) wanted its own biking network, it would be really nice if bikers could cross municipal lines. The same thing would be true if San Pedro (also not a city!) tried to create a program and coordinate with Long Beach. But Venice seems like a more obvious candidate for a bike-rental expansion with its beachfront bike path, tourists and proximity to another bike rental program.

Metro's trouble coordinating a county-wide debit card system programs is a point worth bringing up. This is not inspiring: http://articles.latimes.com/20...

Dane_in_Nashville

The idea is great and has worked in Copenhagen for the last +15 years. The only drawback with the system in LA is the payment option using a credit card. Often times people will not be returning the bike at the allocated locations which can be a challenge when using the credit card. The system in Copenhagen has proved successful since the payment system is using coins. The user of the "free bike" system unlocks the bike by putting a coin in the bike lock - if the user chides not to return the bike at a dedicated location he will not get his money back. If however he returns the bike he can get his money back if he lock it up at the appropriate location. The system is similar to the luggage cart system you see in the US airports. It has proven success ful since people will return bikes in order to get the 10 kroners ($1.50). The question is if the City of LA is hoping to make a profit on the bike system. Doing the coin system would minimize the profit, but make the bike system more popular among it's end users.

Dane_in_Nashville

The idea is great and has worked in Copenhagen for the last +15 years. The only drawback with the system in LA is the payment option using a credit card. Often times people will not be returning the bike at the allocated locations which can be a challenge when using the credit card. The system in Copenhagen has proved successful since the payment system is using coins. The user of the "free bike" system unlocks the bike by putting a coin in the bike lock - if the user chides not to return the bike at a dedicated location he will not get his money back. If however he returns the bike he can get his money back if he lock it up at the appropriate location. The system is similar to the luggage cart system you see in the US airports. It has proven success ful since people will return bikes in order to get the 10 kroners ($1.50). The question is if the City of LA is hoping to make a profit on the bike system. Doing the coin system would minimize the profit, but make the bike system more popular among it's end users.

Lars

Unfortunately you have to worry about theft. With a credit card the user can be 'tracked' if they steal (or lose) the bike. For $1.50 a lot of people would rent the bike but then never return them.

MMA Acupuncture

This is such an awesome Idea.When you can't afford a bike or when your saving up for one it would sure be nice to rent one from time to time, especially if it's affordable!