One of our long-standing goals is to make it easier for all people to travel to and from our stations — including cyclists.

In many cases, that means offering convenient and safe bike parking options for commuters. So we’ve been working to improve our bike parking program and will soon be making several enhancements — especially to our bike lockers located at 57 different stations on the Metro system.

These future improvements include:

•Offering free secured bike parking at our five Metro Bike Hubs until demand reaches a point where a modest fee for parking is required. Bike Hubs can currently be found at the following stations: Culver City (E Line), El Monte (J Line), Hollywood/Vine (B Line), Union Station (B, D, J and L Lines, Metrolink and many bus lines), and Willowbrook/Rosa Parks (A and C Lines and many bus lines).

•Putting in place a new pricing policy, with different options, for Metro’s bike lockers that will free up more lockers for new daily and monthly users — which has been challenging to date. People tend to rent the lockers and hold on to them, whether they’re using them or not.

•We will also be ending pre-registration for lockers to decrease any financial barriers that may be discouraging people from using them. The lockers will be available to rent on the spot through new digital kiosks to be installed.

•We’re also switching from our current system that requires a key to use our lockers to a digital keyless platform. This new system will avoid the problem of lost keys, instead allowing users to enter a code to access their locker. 

•Wherever we can, Metro will be adding bicycle lockers inside bicycle shelters or Metro Bike Hubs to offer more secure and protected parking options. These lockers will be actively monitored, which we think is a good way to keep an eye on stored property, reduce theft and create a safe and pleasant bike parking facility. The registration process will be completed at the entrance kiosk. 

•Under the new program, we’ll also be able to offer bicycle parking to communities that have not previously had access to parking options. And bicycle lockers will also have a payment option for patrons who do not have or choose not to use credit cards or smartphones. All registration will be available at an entrance kiosk.

Want to learn more? Here’s the Metro staff report on bike parking upgrades. What do you think, riders and cyclists? What would encourage you to bike more to and from Metro stations?