The future of electrical bike docking stations on the State Street promenade is unclear, a bit greater than a yr after the Santa Barbara program was launched.
Santa Barbara City Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon raised the difficulty at Tuesday’s council assembly.
“I am still really concerned about the mixed messaging of having docking stations on State Street, that is now a promenade, and we don’t really want people riding that fast on their e-bikes on the promenade,” Sneddon mentioned.
She mentioned the general challenge of e-bikes on State Street additionally must be addressed.
“It’s just a different world than it was when we initially starting putting them there,” Sneddon mentioned. “The circulation patterns have modified.”
The dialog ensued throughout the City of Santa Barbara’s annual report on the controversial electrical bike program.
The program was launched in January 2021, and thus far, in keeping with mobility coordinator Samuel Furtner, the system is at 50% capability and the town has but to put in the solar-powered kiosks it promised to permit folks with out smartphones to make use of a card or money to hire the bikes.
The metropolis partnered with non-public firm BCycle on the electrical bike mission.
Furtner mentioned that after one yr, the town has put in 50 dock stations and 140 bikes. Those bikes have traveled 320,500 miles, with greater than 81,000 journeys by 15,000 riders. The metropolis would finally like to put in 250 e-bikes and as much as 500 docks.
Riders are capable of purchase annual memberships for $150, for limitless 30-minute rides, and month-to-month memberships for $30 for limitless 30-minute rides. The metropolis has a “low-income” membership construction of $25 per yr for “eligible users.” The value to stroll up and hire a motorbike is $7 for half-hour, in contrast with $20 to $25 per hour charges with rivals on the non-public market.
Furtner additionally mentioned that about 100 bikes haven’t been parked accurately or have been deserted or stolen. Three of them haven’t been recovered. The batteries have been stripped out of 11 of the bikes, and about 50 others have skilled “minor” damages.
Software points additionally contributed to some “down time” when the bikes have been inoperable. Furtnered reported three collisions, however no particulars on them. Furtner additionally mentioned {that a} “chip delay” prevented the kiosk from being put in, however later in his report mentioned the town needed to deal with the set up of the docks and the bike program as causes for not erecting the kioks but.
The program hit bumps within the highway from the start. The metropolis employees bypassed a design assessment of the bikes and docks by the Historic Landmarks Commission in an try to hurry up this system. Later, when the Planning Commission permitted the mission, it did so with out realizing in regards to the solar-powered kiosks. In a breakdown in communication, BCycle assumed that the kiosks would hook as much as the town’s electrical provide. When then-transportation supervisor Rob Dayton discovered that out, he knowledgeable BCycle that the town couldn’t dig up the sidewalk streets to supply electrical energy to the kiosks.
So, BCycle got here again with a solar-powered tower.
Sneddon known as the general program a hit, however leaned into the thought of transferring the docks off State Street and onto aspect streets. Jessica Grant, the town’s interim public works downtown supervisor, mentioned the difficulty about whether or not to maneuver the docks off of State Street is an element of a bigger dialog.
“State Street is the backbone community of the town as indicated within the bicycle grasp plan,” Grant said. “It made full sense to have it on our backbone community. Unfortunately, we now have area constraints on the zero blocks to place further stations there.”
Activist Anna Marie Gott famous the employees’s inconsistencies in explaining the kiosk delay. She mentioned the town wants to maneuver quick to put in the 9-foot-tall kiosks, which permit folks to make use of money and purchase a card with out having a smartphone, to extend fairness and inclusion.
“We should actually be putting these kiosks on the Westside and Eastside where people are going to have less access to smartphones,” Gott mentioned.
City Councilwoman Alejandra Guiterrez, who represents Santa Barbara’s Eastside, additionally needs to see extra bikes on the Eastside and Westside.
“I have seen a lot of my community members take advantage of the bikes,” Gutierrez mentioned. “I would actually like to see more in my district. I have family that live in the Westside . . . and there’s never bikes available.”
— Noozhawk employees author Joshua Molina will be reached at .(JavaScript have to be enabled to view this e-mail handle). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.