Friday, the City Council formally agreed with Metro to bring over 1,000 bike-share bikes to Downtown Los Angeles as soon as "sometime in 2016." The cost of the system will be split between Metro (35%) and the City (65%). Proceeds from naming rights will go to Metro, and advertising from the bikes and kiosks to Los Angeles. If successful, bike-share will spread to North Hollywood, Hollywood, Venice, and elsewhere.
Of course, there are some issues. Santa Monica, Long Beach, West Hollywood, and Beverly Hills have all chosen a different bike-share provider, with a different technology and different fee-collection system. Santa Monica's Breeze system is currently testing a limited pilot, with the full program going online in November. This means that people visiting attractions in Hollywood or the beach areas could be faced with trying to decipher two different systems. Hopefully, Metro will be able to adapt its TAP card to work for both bike-share systems to reduce the confusion.
But the good news is: it's official. From Wendy Greuel's vision in 2008 to the debacle with Bike Nation, Los Angeles took the long road to bike-share. But we've emerged with a contract, plan, and timeline to bring bike-share to Los Angeles.
Do you have any thoughts on the plan or suggestions for Metro/L.A. City? Leave them below.
