Dublin Council To Review Possible Bikeshare Program

DUBLIN, CA — The Dublin City Council will receive a report at their Tuesday meeting on the feasibility of a bikeshare program in the city.

City staff reviewed a number of bikeshare options, including:

• Station-based bikeshare, in which riders pick up and drop off bikes at a fixed-dock station.
• Dockless bikeshare, in which users can pick up and drop off bikes at any location within a predefined geographic region.
• Hybrid bikeshare, a mix of station-based and dockless bikeshare.
• Electric scooter sharing, which is like a station-based electric scooter sharing program.

Staff conducted interviews with a number of other cities and regional agencies, and uncovered a number of challenges. Several agencies who have contracted with operators like Spin, BIRD, or Lime, have had to stop their programs due to changes with the operators. Agencies have also had to deal with challenges maintaining bikes and bike stations, and many bikes were left abandoned on streets. Some were also stolen and sold. Some e-bike riders also experienced personal injuries, equipment failures, or recalls, among other challenges.

San Ramon discontinued its e-bike and e-scooter sharing program due to several issues, including trouble meeting the rebalancing requirement, sidewalk obstruction, scooters not being able to go on the Iron Horse Trail, and underage drivers using parent IDs to circumvent the driver’s license requirement, according to staff. San Ramon staff are currently exploring vendors for an e-bike share program that could use the Iron Horse trail.

If Dublin hopes to have a successful program, it will need to take a number of steps, according to staff:

• Develop a legal framework to allow bikesharing.
• Identify funding and staffing resources.
• Update existing bicycle infrastructure.
• Gauge partnership and sponsorship interest.
• Gauge interest from flexible bikeshare vendors.
• Identify supporting policies and/or incentives to encourage bikeshares.
• Develop an education, safety, and awareness campaign.
• Actively explore all models of providing access to bicycles.

See here for more information.

The meeting will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. at 100 Civic Plaza. The meeting will also be livestreamed at www.tv30.org and on the City’s website at https://dublin.ca.gov/ccmeetings.

See here for the full meeting agenda.