LA to Rollout a Bike-Sharing Program in 2016
According to recent reports, notably in the LA Daily News, LA Metro will be accepting proposals for a countywide bikeshare program.
The contract award is anticipated to be made in June of this year. Initially, the pilot would start in Downtown LA, followed by Pasadena.
The strategy is to put bikeshare stations around the transit and bus stations so people can “rent” a bike and then leave it at the exiting station. The objective is to eliminate the need for passengers bring their bikes on board a train.
LA, often a leader in U.S. cultural trends, is playing a bit of catch-up with other major cities that already have a program in place. These include New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., not to mention a terrific approach in Paris, called Velib.
The LA pilot program will create 65 to 80 downtown L.A. bike stations with an additional 35 targeted in the second phase. Metro plans to roll out the program in March 2016 in L.A. and in Pasadena in summer 2017. Funding comes from a $3.8 million Express Lanes program grant in which LA Metro charges solo commuters to ride carpool lanes on portions of the its freeways. Metro will shoulder about $500,000 a year in operations costs for the downtown L.A. program.
As for the financials, Metro will pay one-half the capital cost and 35 percent of the operation and maintenance. Funding comes from a $3.8 million Express Lanes program grant in which LA Metro charges solo commuters to ride carpool lanes on portions of the its freeways. Metro will shoulder about $500,000 a year in operations costs for the downtown L.A. program.
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