upper waypoint

Electric Bike-Sharing Coming to SF and Berkeley

Save ArticleSave Article
Failed to save article

Please try again

Electric bike (selftrading / Flickr)
Electric bicycle (selftrading / Flickr)

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- Electric bicycles are coming to San Francisco and Berkeley next year as part of a bike-sharing pilot program approved by transportation officials Tuesday.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board of directors gave the go-ahead for a $1.5 million grant toward an electric bike-share program that will partner with City CarShare and the UC Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center.

City CarShare is a Bay Area nonprofit member-based car-sharing organization that serves San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland and other East Bay cities.

In San Francisco $740,000 will be diverted to the program, which will offer electric bicycles to City CarShare members at 20 stations in San Francisco and Berkeley.

The other portion of the money will be used in Berkeley, where the research group will monitor usage of the alternative travel option during the pilot that will end in 2018.

Sponsored

City CarShare will run and maintain the bicycles and stations. Electric bicycles have a low-powered motor that allow riders to reach up to 20 mph.

SFMTA spokesman Paul Rose said the program will launch in summer 2014.

Funding for the grant comes from the Federal Highway Administration.

lower waypoint
next waypoint
Map: What You Need to Earn to Afford a Median-Priced Home in Your County in CaliforniaNewsom Eyes Cuts to California’s $500M Anti-Foreclosure Fund for RentersEarly Bay Area Heat Wave Brings Hottest Temperatures of the Year So FarInside Sutro Baths, San Francisco's Once Grand Bathing PalaceYouth and Nonprofits Rally Against Cuts to SF Family Support ProgramsHalf Moon Bay Mayor Calls Newsom's Legal Threat Over Farmworker Housing UnhelpfulIt's Official: Oakland Port Once Again Votes to Change Airport Name to 'San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport'What Makes a Burrito…a Burrito?Berkeley Passes Legal Protections for Polyamory, Joining OaklandFailures of SF Office on Sexual Assault Complaints Draw Scrutiny