Bikeshare Interactive
Metro is leading a regional effort to develop a user-friendly bikeshare system to increase transportation choices for people traveling to and from transit stations and making short trips. The program will provide a fleet of bicycles that can be borrowed from strategically placed bikeshare stations.
Metro is currently studying station locations in the Regional Bikeshare Implementation Plan and seeking input on areas identified for Phase 1 implementation: downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena and Santa Monica.
Metro has proposed a number of initial launch stations. Let us know what you think of these locations by clicking ‘like’ or leaving a comment. If you know of a great spot for a bikeshare station, pin it on the map. If that location has already been suggested, you can tell us you ‘like’ it or give more information by leaving a comment.
Final bikeshare station locations will be determined by Metro, staff of Phase 1 cities and the bikeshare operator. Locations will be determined based on availability of space, right-of-way, ADA access, demand, support and numerous other factors. Implementation is currently planned for 2016.
With your help, Los Angeles County will be one step closer to a regional bikeshare system. Please visit the interactive map to make your station suggestions. Input will be accepted through September 8. For more information or to provide feedback, send an email to Bikeshare@metro.net.
Below is a short FAQ on bikesharing and station locations:
What is bikeshare?
Bikeshare programs provide a fleet of strategically located bicycles that can be borrowed for individual local trips. Bicycles can be returned to the same station or a separate one, depending on what suits your trip.
What makes a great bikeshare station location?
Bikeshare stations located near key destinations, rail and bus stations and within accessible distance of other bikeshare stations help people make trips.
What is Metro going to do with my proposed station sites?
Metro and implementing jurisdictions will consider all proposed station sites, comments, and ‘likes’ received as part of this process. Final selection of bikeshare station locations will take into account availability of space, right-of-way, ADA access, demand, support and numerous other items.
Why can’t I pin a station where I want?
We don’t want to waste your time—so we are limiting pins to areas being considered for Phase I. If you have other suggestions, please email them to bikeshare@metro.net
Which cities are being considered for Phase I implementation?
Downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, and Santa Monica are being considered for Phase 1. As part of the Implementation Plan, Metro will be studying areas suitable for Phase 2 implementation.
Why are only four areas being considered?
Metro is launching bikeshare in areas that have proven feasible, have secured funding, and are located around Metro rail system. The rail system provides a backbone connection between the pilot cities. With an integrated system, a user can ride the first 1-3 miles to a transit station on a bikeshare bike, dock their bike, ride transit to their destination, and pick up another bike to complete the last mile of their trip. As with many other Metro services, the benefits of bikeshare extend beyond the the communities surrounding stations. Anyone who lives, works, travels through, or visits the pilot cities will be able to utilize bikeshare. As part of the Implementation Plan, expansion areas will be identified throughout the County for future phases.
When will bikeshare hit the streets of L.A. County?
Los Angeles County is trying to accomplish a feat that no other region has been able to by creating one integrated, countywide system, which provides a seamless user-experience. Metro is working closely with jurisdictions and departments to make this vision a reality. Implementation is currently planned for 2016.
[…] unas cuantas semanas pedimos sus comentarios sobre nuestra lista de sugerencias para estaciones de bicicletas compartidas […]
[…] El mes pasado, el equipo del Plan de Implementación de Bicicletas Compartidas de Metro anunció que escucharía sugerencias del público sobre posibles ubicaciones de estaciones para bicicletas en el centro de L.A., Long Beach, Pasadena y Santa Mónica como parte de la primera fase piloto del programa. Lean aquí la nota original. […]
NELA! One of the most bikeable parts of L.A. and one of the few that has a bike network that doesn’t seem half-assed (once they figure out Figueroa).
Eagle Rock Blvd. and Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock and York, Eagle Rock and Verdugo Rd, just south of Ave 40,
York Blvd. and Campus, York and Ave. 50, York and Aldama, York and Figueroa
Colorado and Fig, Colorado and Townsend,
I understand that the stations need to have ADA access.
But I want to know why they need to have ADA access,
[…] Read More […]
For everyone that keeps on repeating that LA should look to NYC or San Francisco for inspiration, they need a cold, hard reality check on the geography and demographics of LA versus any other city or metropolitan area in the US.
This is the LA that we live in today:
We have a 10 million population and growing in an entire county all within less than 4800 square miles of land. Out of that, 4 million people lives in the City of LA alone.
Over 25% of Californians live right here in the southland. We’re the most densely populated county in the US. We’re the most populous county in the US. We have more people living here right here in LA County than the entire State of Georgia. If LA County were it’s own state, we’d be the 8th most populous state in the nation. In fact, we have more people living here in LA County than the entire country of Austria, Sweden and Hungary.
No other city in the US can match what LA has to deal with. You think you guys can just replicate what NYC and San Francisco does to here in Los Angeles? You guys must be dreaming!
Thank you, Ron. I hope that the staff in the Planning Dept read your message and that the CITY COUNCIL members and their planning staff do the same. There is a strong dose of delusion circulating in city policy-making circles. We have become a giant test-tube where practices of other cities VERY UNLIKE LA are being applied to our municipality. If one looks carefully at the examples it is not hard to point out major differences that must be acknowledged (and that could lead to scuttling a plan or altering it). In addition to the very real PHYSICAL differences between LA and NYC, Chicago and SF, there are significant cultural differences as well. Change works best when it is gradually implemented giving those involved a chance to adapt and even embrace that change. As we all know, we don’t need to have the very best plan; it is more important to have a plan upon which you can build a following. Why have these basic concepts gotten lost in City Hall? While there is a well organized and vocal bike rider constituency who communicates with the city and planning dept. when it has its on-line chit chats and comment periods, there is a far larger population who is not involved in those chats, have serious concerns about the assumptions being made by planners, and who are seriously wondering what flavor of Kool Aid is being served downtown in City Hall. All this, coupled with the City’s “one size fits all” mentality is a real challenge to maintaining and enhancing the quality of life in LA. It is no wonder that people don’t vote in local elections. Having a lottery with cash prizes for those who vote is not the solution (as recommended by the Ethics Commission). Having a City that listens to its citizens and that works hard to balance competing interests and uses data rather than political influence to make planning decisions and enforce existing laws is what is needed to bring back a sense of credibility to City government. Then people will vote.
Well said Ron and Babs!
The problems with LA government officials is that we have all these migrants to LA who come from NY, Chicago, and San Francisco and pretend that the same rules can be applied here.
Oh in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, we have free transfers. Over where I COME FROM, we invested heavily in bike lanes.
FACT CHECK! WE’RE NOT NEW YORK, WE’RE NOT CHICAGO, WE’RE NOT SAN FRANCISCO! LA is LA, a totally different animal with totally different geographical features and demographics than these cities.
No other major city in the US that has to deal with 88 municipalities all working their own independent way. And the problem of all of them not working together to look at the bigger picture of making LA County as a whole a better place. A county with a population of 10 million plus and growing, a level that we have more people living here in 4800 square miles than the entire State of Georgia. And we have so many minority groups from all races, ethnicities, and cultures that we probably have an immigrant from every single country in the world.
NO ONE IN THE US COMES CLOSE to what LA has to deal with. If no one in the US can match what LA has to deal with, LA then has to start looking outside the US for inspiration. LA isn’t in the major leagues of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco any more; we’ve surpassed them in population and density long ago. LA’s now has to contend in the world leagues.
Quite frankly, LA’s at a point where there are no more cities in the US to compare against with because our city is in a whole different own league. Ten million people living in 4800 square miles? That’s approaching world class megacity status such as the likes of London, Tokyo, and Seoul: TENS of millions of people, densely populated over a wide limited area.
Dan’s comment calling attention to the differences between LA and other metro areas is so very relevant and important. Our geographical layout (mountain range in the midst of the city), huge sprawling footprint (not landlocked like SF and NYC), foothill communities that will never have the density to warrant public transit service, etc. make our City a real challenge for many transit-related initiatives. First, we have to understand that some folks will not be able to give up their vehicles and that providing parking at transit stations will allow those people to take advantage of the investments made in fixed transit. Without it, they will have no choice but to drive to their destination. If we want to reduce traffic and make roads more friendly for bikes and peds, we need to acknowledge that we don’t have the penetration of transit that other municipalities have. There is no benefit to having bicyclists demonize and torture vehicle drivers and no benefit from vehicle drivers discounting the needs of bicyclists. As always, the devil is in the details. The City needs to acknowledge the fact that it must make physical investments for bikes beyond the painting of sharrows and the placement of signs. It also must acknowledge that intentionally making driving on key arterials significantly more difficult and time-consuming will only chase those vehicles onto nearby residential streets where they do not belong. It would be wonderful to see the City’s bike planners come up with benefit packages for residential neighborhoods that locate bike routes within them. If a residential street, for example, gave up parking on one side of the street to make it a safer/better street for bike riders, why couldn’t the City issue FREE parking permits to those residents for the remaining side of the street? It doesn’t cost the City much to issue those permits and could be the incentive to locate more bike facilities on quieter streets — less heavy traffic and congestion for the bikes. Certain traffic calming measures could also be placed on those streets making it a win-win for bikes and residents.
Come to Koreatown/Mid-Wilshire, we’re the densest neighborhood in California. 102,000 people in 1.4 square miles that are less auto dependent and walk and bike more than anyone else in town.
[…] is taking a big first step: the agency is seeking input on where exactly to place bike-share hubs, says The Source. They’re focusing on Santa Monica, Pasadena, Downtown, and Long Beach (for Phase I) to find […]
[…] Metro Seeks Input for Bike Share Stations: Pasadena, DTLA, SM-Venice (The Source) […]
I hope Metro understands how different LA is from downtown Chicago, DC, or NYC. Ideally, shared bikes could be available in large numbers at all Metrorail and major BRT routes. But perhaps as a first and last mile mode to one’s work, and then the bikes could be available for micro-rent during the day to others at that site. Of course this system would require technology like SoBi offers, where the intelligence is on the bikes and expensive stations are not needed. Regardless of this approach, I do hope Metro understands how different LA is from other major bikeshare cities and design a system that fits LA.
“Los Angeles County is trying to accomplish a feat that no other region has been able to by creating one integrated, countywide system”
Hasn’t Bay Area Bike Share already done this? There are stations in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, with more to come in other counties, soon.
http://www.bayareabikeshare.com/stations
It is important that METRO and the cities involved maintain ultimate decision-making authority on the placement of the bikeshare stations. The LA City experience with the Street Furniture program contract that is meant to provide for bus shelters and the newer bus bench contract leave it primarily to the contractors to make the decisions on placement which means that they put the bus shelters and benches where the most ad revenues can be raised — rather than where they might be most needed. You can see locations where there are few riders and where both shelters AND bus benches are placed with the operators of both programs generating ad revenues. Places that don’t bring in strong ad revenues go without. It is up to the municipalities and agencies involved to make certain that key locations are covered to make the entire program work. Since there can be no ads on bikeshare kiosks in LA City due to the monopoly granted to CBS – Decaux’s Street Furniture contract, placement of bikeshare facilities may not be so strongly influenced by ad $$ generating potential but this is something to keep in mind.
Crowd sourcing bike station is a good idea. Based on what I’ve seen so far from the official proposed station locations, a mistake is being made by placing too many stations at commercial areas and busy intersections and not enough stations in residential areas.
One of the key to success of a bike share program is to put enough stations in residential areas (especially low density ones with single family homes like much of Santa Monica and Pasadena) so people can ride the bike to transit centers and shops. Putting bike stations only at major intersections and where people already walk to/from transit only won’t bridge the “last mile” problem.
From my first glace, I agree with you. It looks to me like the “Phase 1” plan is something along the lines of “people will drive to the transit station, and then bike share from the transit station to work” which is a nice idea, but more residential spots is a plus.