SGV Connect 4 – Bike-Share Gets Its Tires Wet in Pasadena

After watching bike-share systems come online in Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Long Beach, in July it was Pasadena's turn to launch its own bike-share system. Shortly after the launch, the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (COG) earned a grant to expand bike-share to fourteen cities throughout the valley.

Today, SGV Connect's Damien Newton talks with Streetsblog Los Angeles editor Joe Linton and the Pasadena Complete Street Coalition's Blair Miller. Miller is also a member of the City of Pasadena's Transportation Advisory Committee.

In our conversation, we discuss the roll-out of bike share in Pasadena and how the system is working and being perceived. We also talk about the regional network, which includes Metro bikes and other systems, and about the future bike-share systems that will be coming soon to cities throughout the San Gabriel Valley thanks to the Active Transportation Program.

"Bike-share is an exciting opportunity because we hope it will get more people out and riding," Miller concludes. "I hope that Los Angeles, Pasadena, and other cities in the San Gabriel Valley can keep going in the direction they're going to get more people out and riding."

Towards the end of the discussion, Linton mentions an upcoming piece by Streetsblog L.A.'s Sahra Sulaiman that will look at some of the equity issues (pricing, location) that surround bike-share in Los Angeles and throughout the world. He hopes that the San Gabriel Valley's bike-share plans take these issues seriously to ensure that bike-share works for as large a group of riders as possible.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

Catch past episode of SGV Connect and #DamienTalks on LibSyn and iTunes.

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