More than one year and thousands of bike rides later, the Beverly Hills bike share program has given residents and visitors a viable way to explore the local streets.

“I am thrilled that our city has a thriving bike share program,” Mayor Lili Bosse said. “It is my goal that we will continue to expand it throughout our city with more stations and more bike lanes. I hope that our city will always be a leader in being a walkable, bike-able community.”

The Wilshire and Doheny station is one of several throughout the city where riders enrolled in the program can pick up and drop off bicycles. (photo by Luke Harold)

According to a city staff report, approximately 6,567 trips were taken through the bike share program between May 2016 and September 2017. August, with beautiful weather and plenty of summer tourists, has been the most active month. The “smart bikes” used for the program have onboard GPS technology, and riders can sign up for the program through an app or online.

In December, the City Council will consider expanding the program to form a regional network of bike sharing by Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and UCLA.

“A goal for the three municipalities operating the smart bike system is to integrate the westside cities and UCLA bike share programs under one umbrella network to [make] it easy and convenient for customers to identify with – and use – one seamless system,” Aaron Kunz, Beverly Hills deputy director of transportation, and Martha Eros, the city’s transportation planner, said in the staff report.

In February 2016, Beverly Hills became the second city in the county to implement a bike share program, following Santa Monica in November 2015. Wesy Hollywood started its program in August 2016. Beverly Hills bike share members can return their bikes to any of the city’s 10 bike share stations, or any of the 20 West Hollywood bike share stations, free of charge. Riders are charged a $2 fee to lock their bikes to any other public bike rack.

An analysis conducted by staff showed that the city’s 50 bike share bicycles are each ridden 0.29 times per day, compared to 0.27 times per day in West Hollywood, which has 150 bicycles. Santa Monica’s 500 bicycles are each ridden an average of 1.79 times per day. The station at Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Drive has been the busiest, with 2,406 total rentals – the number of bikes that have been picked up and dropped off – between May 2016 and September 2017.

Out of all the different plan options the city offers, pay-as-you-go has been the most popular, with 1,622 registrants as of September who signed up in the preceding year and a half, and whose memberships are currently active. Annual, monthly, student and special event plans are also available.

With infrastructure improvements in progress, the city projects increased usage of its bike share program in the years ahead.

“Usage of the Beverly Hills Bike Share system is anticipated to increase in future years as it becomes interoperable with the systems of West Hollywood, Santa Monica and UCLA,” Kunz and Eros said in the staff report. “The regional bike share network would allow for a larger coverage area and significantly increase the number of destinations for the city’s bike share users. Higher usage is also expected as the Purple Line Extension subway stations open in the city. The bike share system would be a first-last mile mode by subway users who will commute to/from the city.”

Approximately $150,000 in AB2766 Air Quality Management District and Measure R transportation grant funds were used for Beverly Hills bike share equipment. Monthly maintenance costs $186 per bike, totalling $109,500 annually for the system’s 50 bikes.

The City Council voted earlier this year to include bike lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard by next spring, as the reconstruction project continues. At one of the City Council’s December meetings, it will vote on a memorandum of understanding for the operation of a regional bike share system that incorporates Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and UCLA.

“To achieve one seamless and integrated bike share network, the three westside cities concurred that a one fare structure is essential for an integrated bike share system,” Kunz and Eros wrote. “Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Santa Monica adopted the same fare structure, and UCLA’s membership structure varies to attract and retain its student population.”