SFMTA Plans to Expand Bay Area Bike Share in San Francisco

Note:  Press Release--SFMTA Bay Area Bike Share Open House Invite.pdf attached

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees all transportation in the city, today announced the start of Bay Area Bike Share expansion efforts in San Francisco.

Bay Area Bike Share is a regional pilot bike sharing program that launched in August 2013 with 350 bikes and 35 stations in San Francisco as part of a 700 bike and 70 station regional unveiling. Expansion efforts will take place in early 2014 with 15 new stations and 150 new bikes coming to San Francisco as part of a regional expansion to reach 1,000 bikes and 100 stations in San Francisco, Redwood City, Palo Alto, Mountain View and San Jose.

On Wednesday, October 16, the SFMTA will host a community open house at the San Francisco LGBT Center from 5:30 – 7 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to share their ideas for new bike share station locations in San Francisco’s Mission District, the Castro, Hayes Valley and Mission Bay, as well as learn about the bike share program at large.

Bike sharing programs have numerous positive impacts for cities. They deliver all the benefits of bicycling, such as reducing traffic congestion, improving public health and air quality and generating new jobs. Bike share programs also partner well with transit to get residents and visitors from their transit stop to their final destination. Moreover, bike sharing is a fun, convenient and affordable transportation alternative that helps to overcome obstacles to using a bike in a city, such as storage and bike theft. It also introduces new audiences to the freedom and convenience of using bicycles for short trips.

“With the initial rollout phase of Bay Area Bike Share completed, we look forward to initiating the next phase of planning efforts to bring a fuller and more robust bike share system to San Francisco; continuing the innovative work we are doing to make bicycling an even more attractive mode of transportation,” said Tom Nolan, Chairman of the SFMTA Board of Directors.

“As we work to improve San Francisco’s transportation system for those who live, work and visit San Francisco, residents, businesses and visitors play a huge role in the success of Bay Area Bike Share. This open house is another opportunity for the community to be a part of the program as we look for input on where to expand bike share in San Francisco,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation, Ed Reiskin.

This pilot program is brought to the region through a multi-agency public partnership including the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, County of San Mateo, Redwood City, Caltrain, San Mateo County Transit or SamTrans, the Valley Transportation Authority, City and County of San Francisco, and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. The cost of the full pilot totals $11.2 million, and is funded using Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds ($7.1 million), money from the Transportation Fund for Clean Air ($2.8 million) and other local funds ($1.3 million).