Millbrae joins Burlingame’s quest for bike share program

Bike share programs allow short-term app-based rentals, sometimes complementing public transit by filling the “last mile” gap between a station and one’s final destination. Such services were popularized in the early 2010s, but in recent years amid emerging regulations, corporate restructuring, varied ridership and the pandemic, they all but vanished from the Peninsula.

Burlingame earlier this year set the wheels in motion to bring a program back, and Millbrae officials hope to expand the effort by seeking a bike share company to operate in both cities. Burlingame previously hosted a short-lived bike share program that was cut short in 2019 after operator Lime discontinued bikes as part of its service.

“I’m glad to see we’re joining Burlingame and trying to take advantage of this, it would be a great start to moving in the right direction,” Vice Mayor Gina Papan said.

Councilmembers suggested other neighboring cities also be included. Pappajohn said San Mateo, which does not have a bike share program, had been reached out to but declined to participate due to their permitting rules that require bikeshare vendors to pay $5,000 to submit an application. She said she would ask San Bruno.

The council briefly discussed whether scooters should be a part of the program. Similar programs in cities like San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose include electric scooters as options, which are typically suitable for shorter distances. A majority of councilmembers, however, indicated they were opposed to including scooters, at least initially, citing safety concerns. The Burlingame City Council recently reached a similar conclusion.

“The scooters tend to result in more accidents, if we just start with the bikes, I think it might be easier,” Papan said.

Another variable, not discussed, would be allowing dockless bikes. While Lime’s bikes were dockless, meaning they could be left on sidewalks or other public spaces, many programs today require bikes be returned and rented from designated parking areas. Some, like San Francisco’s program offered by Lyft, use docks but allow riders to leave bikes elsewhere for a fee.

There have also been murmurs of a regional bike share program in the works, similar to the Bay Area Bike Share, launched by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in 2013. It served Redwood City, Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Jose and San Francisco. The service was handed to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in 2016, and was eventually folded into the Lyft service offered today in San Francisco, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland and San Jose.

“I would love to see more cities collaborate on this effort,” Councilmember Anders Fung said. He added that as new housing is built near public transit to reduce congestion, bike shares “are an excellent thing, especially for cities such as us.”

corey@smdailyjournal.com

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