A pilot program showed promise, especially in San Francisco, but lagged in the South Bay and had nothing going for the East Bay's dedicated cycling community. And then its operator ran into difficulties.
Now, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission wants to take over the climate-cooling contributor that did not quite reach its 1,000-bike goal and expand it to 7,000 bikes, with more than 1,300 stationed in the East Bay.
Riders would pay $149 a year for a pass to the system, with a 40 percent discount for qualified low-income people enrolled in Bay Area utility lifeline programs.
The share program is meant for short trips and errands and as a "last mile for transit trips," according to a Transportation Commission staff report for the agency's Wednesday morning Administration Committee meeting. It will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter, 101 Eighth St., Oakland.
The agency is considering contracting with a private operator that would develop the Bay Area's program in stages -- with close monitoring of progress and penalties for failure, including ending the 10-year contract in five years.
The company, Motivate, is the successor to the earlier bike-share operator, Alta. It will own the bike-share equipment and have sponsorship and advertising rights. Participating cities contribute to ongoing costs and staff time.
The initial East Bay cities in the expanded program would be Berkeley, Emeryville and Oakland. San Jose and San Francisco would continue, as would Mountain View, Palo Alto and Redwood City. The trips per bike per day were unexpectedly low in those latter cities, the commission staff said.
San Francisco ultimately would have the most bikes -- 4,500 -- based on its having exceeded ridership expectations in the pilot program. San Jose would have 1,000, Oakland 800, Berkeley 400 and Emeryville 100. Another 150 are "to be determined."
The transportation agency is taking over the bike program from the Bay Area's air quality district. The air district in turn will take over the infrastructure program for electric vehicles that the transportation agency administered.
Reach Andrew McGall at amcgall@bayareanewsgroup.com, follow him at twitter.com/AndrewMcGall
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