San Francisco on its bike after all

  • 2014-11-25
After delays that turned out to have a silver lining, Bay Area Bike Share is finally set to expand.

The company has almost 350,000 trips to its credit in one year of operation, and has been trying to expand for almost a year. Last December, the program's operator, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, wanted to enlarge the system, including putting 300 more bikes in San Francisco and taking the system to four additional communities. However, stumbling blocks with both suppliers and contractors caused the move to be put on hold.

The delay has proven beneficial, though; in the year the project has been on hold, the technology involved in the system has improved, giving new owner Bikeshare Holdings more resources to pick from. Bikeshare Holdings is still in the process of acquiring Alta Bike Share, but has given the air district the go-ahead to add 300 more bikes and 30 additional stations to the network. By early 2015, there will be a total of 100 stations and 1,000 bicycles in the Bay Area Bike Share system.

If the district prefers, it can wait and merge its order with that of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which is planning to expand its service in Berkeley, Oakland, and Emeryville by some 750 bicycles.

Bike Share could work with a postcard printing company on a card to be mailed throughout the Bay Area, announcing the improvements to the system.