WEST HOLLYWOOD/BEVERLY HILLS—The city of West Hollywood’s Bike Share program, WeHo Pedals is partnering with bike share systems in Beverly Hills (Beverly Hills Bike Share), UCLA (Bruin Bike Share) and Santa Monica (Breeze Bike Share) to create a seamless bike share network. According to the city of West Hollywood website, Bike Share Connect will be the first integrated regional bike share network in the Los Angeles area.
WeHo Pedals memberships will automatically spread out to the enhanced service network, which launched on April 23. The new Bike Share Connect system area includes 35-square miles with 830 GPS-connected “Smart Bikes” and 135 station locations. The GPS-enabled bikes, powered by Social Bicycles (SoBi) and operated and maintained by CycleHop, LLC, allow for a seamless integration for all users. All of the bicycles within the Bike Share Connect integrated system have LED headlights and taillights, eight gears, cargo baskets, and a locking mechanism that can be locked to bike share stations within the service area for free, or to any public bike rack within the service area for a nominal fee of $2.
The new Bike Share Connect network expands availability of bike share across the region and provides car-free mobility. Smart Bikes can be unlocked at one station and returned to any other station in the system area. Existing users of WeHo Pedals Bike Share, and those of Breeze Bike Share, Beverly Hills Bike Share, and Bruin Bike Share programs will automatically have access to the entire Bike Share Connect network following launch.
New users can join the network by downloading the Social Bicycles mobile app, selecting the Bike Share Connect network, and choosing a payment plan. Bike Share users who don’t have a smartphone or internet access can create an account at any time at one of the 16 available self-service kiosks in the network. After becoming a member, users simply enter a phone number or 6-digit account number and 4-digit PIN on the keypad located on the back of each bike to unlock. For kiosk location information and membership details, visit www.wehopedals.com.
To celebrate Bike Month in May 2018, the city of West Hollywood will provide a limited-time WeHo Pedals promotion in May by offering 20-percent off of new Annual Membership signups by using the promo code BIKEMONTH2018. Annual memberships provide 90 minutes of ride time every day of the year across the four Bike Share Connect partner systems. Prices are consistent across the four partner programs, and are not expected to increase with the launch of this expanded network.
For more details about the city of West Hollywood’s WeHo Pedals Bike Share Program and Bike Share Connect, visit www.wehopedals.com or contact Tiffany R. Robinson, Senior Planner, City of West Hollywood, at (323) 848-6868 or at trobinson@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, call TTY (323) 848-6496.
