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East Bay Bike Share Takes Shape

Bay Area Bike Share’s first phase of expansion into the East Bay would link Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville with 34 stations
East Bay commuters are invited to comment on the proposed Bike Share locations in Emeryville, Berkeley and Oakland through May 13.

Today Motivate and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) announced the proposed locations for the first set of bike share stations in the East Bay, a major milestone toward bringing bike share to the East Bay for the first time. Bike share will provide Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville with an affordable and easy-to-use transportation network. Locations have been identified for 21 stations in Oakland, 10 stations in Berkeley and three stations in Emeryville a total of 34 stations, bringing more than 350 bicycles in the East Bay during this, the first of three phases of bike share expansion.

“I can’t wait to jump on a bike when we bring this program to Oakland,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. “Active transportation improves public health, promotes economic development, helps the environment, and is fun and affordable.”

Oakland is expected to receive 21 stations in this first phase of expansion and is planned to receive at least 70 stations by 2018. "Berkeley is a vibrant, world-class city that is dedicated to reducing its carbon footprint,” said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. “Motivate’s partnership with MTC gives us another important tool in our efforts to combat climate change and makes bike sharing a reality in our city.”

Ten locations have been identified for Berkeley’s first phase of bike share with at least 37 stations anticipated as part of the full expansion.

“I’m excited that we’re continuing to put Emeryville on the map — in this case, Bay Area Bike Share’s map,” said Emeryville Mayor Dianne Martinez. “With bike share coming to the East Bay for the first time, I couldn’t be more excited to announce that our small city will be part of this big program.”

Emeryville is expected to receive a total of 10 stations as part of the expansion, with three coming in this first phase.

The East Bay will have more than 100 stations when the three-phase expansion is complete.

These first new stations will be primarily located in downtown areas, where high concentrations of residents live or travel for work and pleasure, and will incrementally expand outward to surrounding neighborhoods. Motivate has also committed to siting at least 20 percent of stations in MTC-designated Communities of Concern, and this first phase of new locations is already ahead of pace to meet this target.

These first station locations were selected through an extensive community engagement process that included over six months of public input into the system’s design. Feedback for the proposed locations was collected in over 70 briefings with community stakeholders and nine public workshops, and through an online station-suggestion portal that generated over 5,000 unique station location suggestions submitted by the public. Motivate has also coordinated closely with staff, elected officials and communities across these cities to identify where these first stations will go and will continue to do so over the next two phases of expansion in the East Bay.

“Since the launch of Bay Area Bike Share in 2013, we’ve heard a strong desire from the community to bring bike share to the East Bay,” said Emily Stapleton, General Manager of Bay Area Bike Share. “In the first year of our expansion, we’re planning to connect the key commercial corridors in Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville to provide residents, workers and visitors in these thriving cities with a new and accessible option to travel in and between them.”

In addition to the East Bay expansion, Bay Area Bike Share will be increasing the footprint of bike share in San Francisco to 4,500 bikes and more than 320 stations, and in San Jose to 1,000 bikes and over 80 stations. The entire tenfold expansion of the bike share system to 7,000 bicycles across the Bay Area is expected to be complete by 2018.

The best bike share station locations are highly visible, close to bicycle facilities, co-located with other transportation connections, and/or close to local destinations like parks, commercial districts, or other major destinations that attract large numbers of Bay Area residents. Bike share systems thrive when stations are placed close to one another, typically no more than a five-minute walk. Specific locations were chosen through a process that coupled feedback from the station suggestion portal with extensive public consultation in the neighborhoods where the expansion is expected to take place, along with a technical assessment of site suitability.

Motivate will work closely with the Oakland Department of Transportation, Berkeley Public Works, and Emeryville’s Planning Division to permit the sites for the bike share stations in the East Bay. Should planning efforts and final approvals proceed according to plan, bicycles for the first phase of expansion could arrive before the end of the year.

View proposed station locations for Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville: bayareabikeshare.com/expansion

Motivate is collecting additional feedback on the proposed locations for this first phase of bike share expansion in the East Bay. The public can provide feedback online or at select locations in these expansion cities:

Oakland

Main Library Branch

125 14th Street, Oakland, CA 94612

Available from April 26th to May 9th during normal library hours.

Asian Library Branch

388 9th St, Oakland, CA 94607

Available from April 26th to May 9th during normal library hours.

Temescal Library Branch

5205 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609

Available May 3rd, 4:00-6:00PM

For Oakland library directions and hours visit oaklandlibrary.org.

Berkeley

Central Library Branch

2090 Kittredge Street, Berkeley CA 94704

Digital display available from April 26 th to May 9th during normal library hours.

Claremont Library Branch

2940 Benvenue Avenue, Berkeley CA 94705

Digital display available from April 26t th to May 9th during normal library hours.

For Berkeley library directions and hours visit berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

Emeryville

Town Hall

1333 Park Avenue, Emeryville, CA 94608

Available from April 26th to May 11th during normal business hours.

For Town Hall directions and hours visit ci.emeryville.ca.us.

About Bay Area Bike Share, operated by Motivate

Bay Area Bike Share is a quick, convenient and affordable way to travel around the Bay Area. The system is growing from 700 to 7,000 bikes by 2018, and expanding into the East Bay. Bay Area Bike Share is operated by Motivate, a global leader in bike share. Motivate manages all of the largest bike share systems in the United States and many of the largest systems in the world, including Citi Bike (New York and Jersey City), Divvy (Chicago), CoGo Bike Share (Columbus, OH), Capital Bike Share (Washington, D.C., Arlington and Alexandria, VA, and Montgomery County, MD) Hubway (Boston, Somerville, Cambridge and Brookline, MA), Pronto (Seattle), Bike Chattanooga (TN), Bike Share Toronto, and Melbourne Bike Share in Australia. Motivate has been selected to operate a new system in Portland, Oregon, that will launch in the summer of 2016. Learn more about Bay Area Bike Share at bayareabikeshare.com.

About the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, go to mtc.ca.gov.

Contacts:

Dani Simons, Motivate, media@motivateco.com, 347-916-0215

Jason Overman, Motivate, overman@barcoast.com, 415-364-000

 

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