SANTA MONICA—Santa Monica’s Breeze Bike Share Program will have a new Fee Structure and Employee Benefits Program beginning August 1, according to a press release from the city of Santa Monica. After hearing from Breeze bike riders through surveys and comments, and with a future plan to integrate a regional bike share network, the City Council approved the new Fee Structure and Employee Benefits Program at the June 14 meeting.

The Fee Structure has been simplified from having eight subscription plans to four offerings. This will cause the rides to be cheaper for monthly, annual and student subscribers due to the extended daily ride time from 30-60 minutes to 90 minutes.

“Breeze riders have shared their love of the program, but we’ve also heard frustrations about a confusing menu of plans and not enough daily ride time,” said Mobility Manager Francie Stefan. “These changes simplify sign up for Annual and Monthly plans, and lay the foundation for a regional system where Breeze users can use their account to unlock a bike in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and beyond.”

The four plan offers that go into effect August 1 are:

  1. Annual Plan: Now $99/year for 90 minutes of daily ride time. This replaces two plans at $119 for 30 minutes and $149 for 60 minutes. Less money for more ride time.
  2. Monthly Plan: Now $25/month for 90 minutes of daily ride time. This plan consolidates two monthly plans and offers 30 to 60 minutes of additional daily ride time.
  3. Student Plan: Now $7/month for 90 minutes of daily ride time. Students will now pay monthly rather than a 6-month commitment. This makes more sense for student schedules and increases daily ride time from 60 to 90 minutes a day.
  4. Pay-As-You-Go: Now $7/hour. This $1 increase from the current $6/hour matches the Breeze hourly rate with partner bike share systems in formation in West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, UCLA, and Long Beach.

The annual plan is the cheapest offer for riders that take more than three 30-minute trips per month costing less than $1 per day. Existing Breeze member will get a 90-minute daily ride time until their plan expires or is renewed under the new Fee Structure.

The Employee Benefits Program will allow employers to buy Breeze Bike Share plans in bulk for employees for as little as $19 per year. This program hopes to encourage Santa Monica workers to commute using Breeze to help reduce traffic congestion in the middle of the day. Kyle Kozar, who manages the Breeze Bike Share, told Canyon News that this program had been a long term goal since Breeze’s launch to help local employers and workers.

Kozar told Canyon News one of the reasons the changes happened was to help with a long term goal to have an integrated bike share system in the region with cities like Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. The simplified Fee Structure and extended ride time, increased to the 90 minute ride time due to rider feedback, is set up to help set the foundation for an integrated bike share system.

Since the Breeze Bike Share launched in November 2015 around 26,000 people have taken 140,000 bike trips totaling 329,000 miles. Santa Monica residents make up 44 percent of the trips taken using Breeze and residents of Los Angeles County add another 23 percent. The first user satisfaction survey taken in May showed 78 percent of the 741 respondents gave Breeze an overall rating of “very good” or “excellent.”

The Breeze Bike Share is owned by the city of Santa Monica and is a component in the city’s strategy to offer sustainable vehicle trip alternatives that help reduce emissions and improve mobility, common health and the overall quality of life in Santa Monica.

Any companies that are interested in the Employee Benefits Program can email info@breezebikeshare.org or call (310) 828-2525. For information on the Breeze Bike Share visit www.breezebikeshare.com. For information on multi-modal options in Santa Monica visit www.smgov.net/gosamo.