Milestone Reached in Bay Area Bike Share Expansion

Back in January, Streetsblog brought you news of a major expansion of the Bay Area’s Bike Share system, growing the network from 700 to 7,000 bikes. Motivate, the company that manages the system, held a series of meetings to get input on good locations for the share stations. Today Motivate, along with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), released preliminary maps for locations in San Francisco and San Jose (with East Bay Locations to follow). The maps show 72 new stations in San Francisco and 13 new spots in San Jose.

“This first phase of expansion alone will triple the size of our successful and popular bike share pilot,” said Ed Reiskin, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Director of Transportation, in a prepared statement. “We’re looking forward to working with Motivate and our regional partners to grow the system citywide and bring the joy of bike sharing to all San Franciscans.”

In a week defined by BART meltdowns and a revenue set back, advocates for safe streets welcomed this milestone. “We’re excited to see Bay Area Bike Share serving more San Franciscans of all backgrounds and neighborhoods in the years ahead, as they build what will be our city’s first new public transportation system in over 40 years,” said Chris Cassidy, Communications Director for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

And SF District 11 Supervisor John Avalos had this to say: “The expansion of Bike Share has the potential to transform how people get around San Francisco and put us on the path to becoming a truly transit-first city”—but, he cautioned, “only if we can make it affordable to all San Franciscans. I hope to work with Motivate to expand their low-income discount program.”

It’s important to note that these maps are not set in stone. If you think there’s a location that should have a station, but it doesn’t appear on the map, don’t hesitate to give your feedback here. They will also take feedback at these additional times and locations:

San Francisco:

Main Library Branch
100 Larkin Street
In the atrium on the 1st floor from March 24th to April 12th during normal library hours

Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Library Branch
1 Jose Sarria Court
March 29th, 4:00-6:00PM

Mission Library Branch
300 Bartlett Street
March 30th, 4:00-6:00PM

San Jose:

MLK Library
150 E San Fernando Street
On the 1st floor from March 23rd to April 12th during normal library hours