Have you heard the exciting news? Our local bike share is now regional!

On Monday, April 23 the bike share systems in Santa Monica (Breeze Bike Share), Beverly Hills (Beverly Hills Bike Share), West Hollywood (WeHo Pedals Bike Share) and UCLA (Bruin Bike Share) are formally launching one seamless bike share network available for residents, commuters, and visitors alike – Bike Share Connect.

This is the implementation of one of the long term goals when we first launched bike share in Santa Monica two and half years ago.  By bridging the gaps between existing system areas, Bike Share Connect further expands availability of bike share across the region and provides car-free mobility in a fun, healthy and environmentally-friendly way. Smart Bikes can be unlocked at one station and returned to any other station in the system area making it easy to commute to work or school, run errands, get to social engagements, and more.

Bike Share Connect System Area

The new system area encompasses 35-square miles with 830 GPS-connected “Smart Bikes” and 135 station locations. The integrated GPS and locking mechanism that are standard on every bike are what make the bikes “Smart Bikes”. The GPS and lock allow users to lock up at any public bike rack. Users can then find available bikes nearby using the Social Bicycles app. In this way, Bike Share Connect network is a “dock-optional” system.

Existing members of Breeze Bike Share, Beverly Hills Bike Share, WeHo Pedals Bike Share or Bruin Bike Share automatically have access to the entire Bike Share Connect network. Starting April 23, new users can join the network by downloading the Social Bicycles mobile app, selecting the Bike Share Connect network, and choosing a payment plan. Residents, commuters, or visitors without a smartphone or internet access can create an account at any time at one of the 16 self-service kiosks in the network.

Consistent pricing throughout the network makes it easy for users to access the system. Prices will not increase with the launch of this expanded network – giving users access to more bikes in more places for the same price.

This has been a collaborative effort and we are so happy to see it get it off the ground. We hope you are as excited about this as we are. ­­