SANTA MONICA—The Breeze Bike Share program celebrated its second anniversary on Sunday, November 12. The program presented by Hulu, launched in Santa Monica in 2015 with over 80,000 active subscribers who have taken over 628,000 trips and more than 1.3 million miles. The program provides sustainable vehicle trip alternatives that decrease emissions, and improve mobility, community health, and the overall quality of life in Santa Monica.
According to a press release from the city of Santa Monica, the program is self-sustaining and no longer needs an additional subsidy from the city after being in operation for 2 years.
On November 4, 25 community members joined a five-mile ride marking Breeze’s birthday with Mayor Ted Winterer as part of his monthly Ride with the Mayor. “Every time you opt for a bike trip over a car trip, you are reducing carbon emissions, reducing gridlock, and boosting your overall health and wellbeing. Breeze makes biking easy with a station in every pocket of town,” said Winterer.
The green Breeze bikes have become a staple of transportation options in Santa Monica. Since its launch, Breeze Bike Share has prevented more than 1,166,300 pounds of carbon from entering the atmosphere. For the coming year, Santa Monica is looking to expand the program by adding new bikes and impelmenting Breeze with neighboring bike share systems in West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and UCLA.
Once implemented, the sub-regional bike share system will give users the opportunity to travel between systems with their one existing account. The system area will provide members access to 830 bikes and over 139 stations throughout the Westside region.
“The regional network will expand access to the system,” says Kyle Kozar, the City’s Bike Share Coordinator. “With one account, users will be able to travel farther throughout the Westside and not have to worry about out-of-system-area fees or extra sign-up processes.”
For additional information or to join other Breeze riders, visit www.breezebikeshare.com. For more information on multi-modal options in Santa Monica, visit www.smgov.net/gosamo.
