E-bike pilot program in works for San Mateo County

The plan calls for increased efforts toward micromobility through a county pilot program where people rent electric bikes and scooters for short-term use to address first- and last-mile transportation travels from home or work to a transit station. 

C/CAG Executive Director Sean Charpentier said its regulatory and environmental goals are to reduce the total amount of vehicle miles traveled, which increases greenhouse gas production. Micromobility provides one of the best opportunities to shift from single-occupancy vehicles to bicycles and other alternative modes of transportation.

“We view this as a critical part of our toolkit to reduce greenhouse gas in the county,” Charpentier said.

Micromobility use has increased in the past decade as technological changes make it easier to create programs. According to C/CAG, people in North America took 128 million trips via shared micromobility in 2021. Electric scooter programs have also become more widespread in the U.S., accounting for 62.2 million trips in 2021.

“They can almost double what people would feel is a comfortable bicycle trip,” Charpentier said of e-bikes. “Hopefully, that will encourage more people to consider them for short- to medium-range trips instead of hopping in their vehicle.”

The C/CAG Board adopted the plan at its Dec. 8 meeting. The first step will be to form the governance committee that will create the guidelines and frameworks for micromobility use. An e-bike pilot program with 50 station hubs at, or near, various transit stations and 500 e-bikes will start in 2024, with the potential to create a larger permanent program. The pilot program would likely start in Daly City, Broadmoor, Colma, Redwood City and North Fair Oaks. C/CAG picked the locations because they are near high-frequency transit sites, large populations and communities with a high reliance on public transit. The program would allow jurisdictions to collaborate and work towards a larger permanent program.

“This program will help reduce vehicle miles traveled and reduce our carbon footprint by providing access to another transportation option for short-trips and connecting people to transit stations,”Davina Hurt, the C/CAG chair and the vice mayor of Belmont, said in a press release.

C/CAG will model the program based on other regional bike share programs, like Bay Wheels, which launched in 2015 in San Francisco and has spread to San Jose and Oakland. Under Bay Wheels, it offers discounted memberships for eligible low-income individuals. A permanent program would also need to address traffic, highway and railway risks. Most significant roads like El Camino Real are uncomfortable for bike and scooter users, while many Bayside communities have to deal with steep hills and slopes that will require program mitigation. Kim Wever, transportation program specialist with C/CAG, said cities have been enthusiastic about being part of a larger program, with Millbrae and Burlingame starting their own e-bike programs. C/CAG hopes to secure funding for permanent programs through grants and the state, with estimates at $200,000 per year for a program. Wever said C/CAG had not determined program costs to users. People can go to https://ccag.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/6.2-A3-Micromobility-Final-Plan.pdf to learn more about the plan.