The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District) in partnership with the City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo County Transit District, City of Redwood City, County of San Mateo, and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is working to pilot bike sharing in the Bay Area.  

A main goal of the pilot is to evaluate bike sharing's potential to effectively reduce vehicle traffic and improve local air quality.  Bike sharing offers a clean and healthy alternative to polluting single-occupancy vehicles, by providing a means for completing first- and last-mile trips in conjunction with regional transit, as well as stand-alone short distance trips.

The pilot system will launch in two phases. The first phase will deploy a fleet of approximately 700 bicycles and 70 kiosk stations and is anticipated launch in August 2013.  Within 3-6 months after the first set of equipment has been deployed, it is anticipated that additional equipment will be added to grow the system to include a fleet of at least 1,000 bicycles. The communities participating in the pilot include: San Francisco, Redwood City, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and San Jose. More program announcements and updates will follow later this spring.

Bicycle stations will be located near transit hubs, high-density residential areas and key destination points such as shopping areas and employment centers making it easier to quickly and conveniently connect to and from transit or make a short distance trip by bike.

The results from the pilot will be used to assess opportunities for expanding the program to include other Bay Area communities.

In order for System to reach its full potential (between 6,000 to 10,000 bicycles) additional funding from a combination of user fees and private sponsorships will be needed. To this end, the Air District is currently developing a Request for Sponsorship and interested in sponsoring the system should contact the Air District at (415) 749-8660.

View the latest news release here.

Would you be interested in joining as a member or sponsoring this program? Participate in a survey to help us design a better program!