We have been waiting for bike share—for over two years. And it seems, Long Beach, that we are finally in the more tangible stages of receiving it.
According to Nathan Baird, Mobility Coordinator for the City of Long Beach, the City will be going out to bid in the next six weeks to pursue a bike share program that will be launched in Downtown. 50 stations, 500 bikes. The cost? $2.2M through a federal grant.
But what about Bike Nation, Long Beach’s proposed bike share vendor? The company had announced in August 2012 that they would invest some $12 million into a bike share program here in Long Beach was met with astounding cheers. At the time, they had expected some 250 kiosks—yes, 250—with the first ones to be installed in downtown by early 2013. It was touted as a free—yes, free—investment.
As for that whole thing, Baird responded succinctly: “That’s about as much info as I can provide right now.”
Long Beach will apparently being joining Santa Monica, also pursuing its own bike share program, and Metro, who announced that they will be creating a county-wide bike share program.
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