Bay Area Bike Share, which launched in August in San Francisco and on the Peninsula, could roll into the East Bay in 2015. Since day one we’ve been working to make sure local elected officials are aware of the importance of an East Bay expansion, and this April they made good on their promises. The Metropolitan Transportation’s Commission’s Programming and Allocations Commission approved $8.7 million in funding for the continuation and expansion of the program. 

 

Although exact locations and amounts have yet to be determined, we can expect more than 750 bikes to be distributed around Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville. The placement of the stations will be decided though joint planning work between the MTC and local jurisdictions, as well as stakeholders such as transit authorities, colleges and more. We are thrilled with the allocation and will be pushing MTC to move forward swiftly with the planning so that we can announce a launch date by the end of the year.

 

With the strong numbers shown by current usage of the Bay Area Bike Share by East Bay residents, as detailed below, as well as the extremely positive support and enthusiasm we’ve heard from our members, Bike East Bay believes that the expansion will be as successful as the San Francisco branch. Let’s bring BABS to the East Bay by Bike to Work Day 2015! Recent news articles: 

San Francisco Appeal: $8.7 Million In Funding Means Bay Area Bike Share Can Expand Into East Bay

San Jose Mercury News: Bike sharing program plans to roll into the East Bay

The Daily Cal: Bay Area Bike Share to expand into Berkeley, East Bay

East Bay Express: Monday Must Reads: Bike Share Program Headed to East Bay Next Year

 

Analysis of Bay Area Bike Share Open Data:

• 30,368 (26.72%) of the 144,015 trips were taken by customers (not subscribers).
• 16,479 (11.44%) of the 144,015 trips were taken by bicyclists from either Contra Costa or Alameda County.
• 13,941 (9.68%) of the 144,015 trips were taken by bicyclists from Alameda County.
• 2,538 (1.76%) of the 144,015 trips were taken by bicyclists from Contra Costa County.
• Of the 13,941 trips taken by bicyclists from Alameda County, 12,627 (90.57%) were taken by subscribers (not customers).
• Of the 2,538 trips taken by bicyclists from Contra Costa County, 2,071 (81.60%) were taken by subscribers (not customers).