People traveling along Santa Monica Boulevard will start to see many cyclists on bright, green bicycles riding through West Hollywood.

(photo by Gregory Cornfield)

“You can’t miss ‘em,” said Mayor Lauren Meister.

The city of West Hollywood on Tuesday celebrated the launch of its bike share system, WeHo Pedals. The mayor, members of the city council and bike coalition cut the ribbon and showed how its done with the first official ride.

WeHo Pedals features 150 bright green “smart bikes” with GPS capabilities, LED headlights and taillights, eight gears, cargo baskets and a locking mechanism. The screen on the bike displays ride time, distance and cost. With a corresponding smartphone app, riders can see where they are in the city in real time while it maps out the route. The mobile app also tells the rider how many bikes and open racks are available at nearby docking stations, and allows users to share ride information with friends and followers. The bikes will be available all day, all year. To pay as you go, riders are charged $7 per hour, prorated to the minute. A monthly plan costs $25, an annual plan costs $99, and both include 90 minutes of daily ride time.

“WeHo Pedals is a fun, easy and cost-effective option for people who live, work and visit West Hollywood to get where they want to go,” Meister said. “Today, the WeHo Pedals bike share program makes 150 public bicycles available for shared use to people on a short-term basis.”

City officials touted the new system as a “next-generation” transportation alternative to sitting idle in traffic or struggling to find parking.

“This is really about focusing on how we can help people out of their cars, one-by-one down Santa Monica Boulevard, and instead give them real, true, viable options to get around the city in a comfortable and safe way,” said Councilwoman Lindsey Horvath. “This keeps us healthy, it keeps us moving and it’s really exciting to finally see this coming to West Hollywood.”

When community members register, they receive a membership card and ID number which can be used to unlock a bike with a corresponding PIN number. When the screen displays that the bike is unlocked, the user can remove the bar and ride off. Riders can stop and put the bike in hold mode to pause their ride without making more reservations. Typically, municipal bikes need to be locked to a dock, but WeHo Pedals bikes can be parked at any public bike rack within the service area for a $2 fee. CycleHop will collect and redistribute the bicycles daily.

Josh Kurpies, district director for Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-West Hollywood) presented the city with a certificate of recognition for the program.

“We are the example, I believe – in West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills – of how bike share can work for the entire county,” Kurpies said.

He pointed out that with a WeHo Pedals docking station at the Hollywood and Highland Red Line station, riders can go from the shopping center to Venice within the same membership system. WeHo Pedals is compatible with neighbor city programs and easy to use throughout the region, including stations in Beverly Hills, Century City, The Grove and more.

Kurpies said they are planning to expand the systems throughout the county so one membership is compatible with all bike share systems and metro train and bus systems.

Meister said earlier this month that the bike share program could expand in West Hollywood, but the city will first need to track the success of the launch.

The city of West Hollywood will host WeHo Pedals bike share education classes at 10 a.m. on the second Sunday of each month through November at the WeHo Pedals hub at West Hollywood City Hall, located at 8300 Santa Monica Blvd. The class is free and space is limited to 15 participants. Reserve a spot in the WeHo Pedals bike share basics class at sustainablestreets.org/class-schedule.html. A system map and more information is available at wehopedals.com, contact the city at (323)848-6868 or email trobinson@weho.org.