Bay Wheels Bikeshare Makes San Mateo County Debut

Partnership Paves Way for New Station at Daly City BART

SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Lyft today kicked off National Bike Month by joining with partners from BART, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and Daly City to cut the ribbon on a new Bay Wheels bikeshare station at the Daly City BART station.

The new docking station marks the first Bay Wheels location in San Mateo County and the continuation of a growth strategy that began last fall with the introduction of more than 1,500 new e-bikes and 30 new docking stations in San Francisco and San Jose and then shifted last month to the East Bay, where the system is adding 24 new docking stations and 565 next-generation e-bikes in Oakland, Emeryville and Berkeley.

"Daly City is proud to be the home of the first Bay Wheels bikeshare station in San Mateo County," said Mayor Juslyn C. Manalo. "As a city that is striving to reduce its carbon footprint, I'm optimistic this new program at Daly City BART will encourage the use of greener modes of transportation for commuters and provide an opportunity for more visitors to explore our great city."

The new Bay Wheels station in Daly City — in the BART parking lot at 379 St. Charles Avenue — is expected to accommodate a mix of next-generation and older-model e-bikes as well as some conventional pedal-powered bikes Due to their ability to climb hills, travel longer distances, and attract riders of varying physical abilities, e-bikes are seen as a way to transform mobility for Bay Area residents and visitors alike.

"I've seen first-hand how MTC has increased its focus on regional connectivity," said MTC Commissioner and San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa. "This new station reflects that focus. In March, Daly City had the ninth highest patronage of any station in the BART system. Nearly two-thirds of those riders were headed to or coming from a station in San Francisco. This shows the potential for Bay Wheels to be that first- or last-mile connection for thousands of BART riders at either end of their trip."

MTC and Lyft last November reduced the cost of an annual Bay Wheels membership to $150 from $169 and cut the cost for members to use a Bay Wheels e-bike to 15 cents per minute from 20 cents per minute. Monthly members now automatically transition to an annual membership at no additional cost when they renew for five consecutive months.

MTC later this year will launch a pilot program to provide reduced-cost annual Bay Wheels memberships for area college students. To enhance the growth of Bay Wheels' e-bike fleet, MTC and Lyft also are piloting grid-connected charging stations using Lyft's next generation station technology. Electrified stations improve e-bike availability for riders by increasing the number of bikes with sufficient battery charge and making operations more efficient. E-bike batteries traditionally had been charged in a warehouse and then manually swapped at the station.

Launched in 2017, Bay Wheels is the Bay Area's regional bikeshare program with over 6,000 bicycles — both pedal-powered and pedal-assist electric bikes — at more than 500 stations in San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville and Daly City. Lyft operates Bay Wheels under a contract managed by MTC. MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission