SAN DIEGO–DECOBIKE, a privately funded bike-share program in San Diego, confirmed that station installations in downtown and uptown San Diego are on track to reach 80 stations by the end of the year.
These stations will activate and deploy bikes after the company’s technical team completes work in January 2015 to link the network. Ultimately, some 180 stations with up to 1,800 bikes will be deployed.
“We are really excited to have San Diegans and visitors rolling with DECOBIKE,” said David Silverman, DECOBIKE’s San Diego executive representative. “This is one of the few bike-share programs in the U.S. that is not subsidized by taxpayer dollars or large sponsorships. We are proud of our investment in San Diego.
“We originally planned to launch the program earlier this year, but manufacturing and community outreach took a bit longer than we had an anticipated. We’ve worked closely with City staff to get extensive input from planning groups and neighborhoods.”
“It will be exciting to see DECOBIKE riders around the City in the New Year. It is a great example of a public/private partnership where a private company is making a major investment in San Diego. Bike-share is an alternative mode of transportation that is environmentally friendly and will enhance the vibrancy of our City,” said Natasha Collura, director of Corporate Partnerships and Development for the City of San Diego.
DECOBIKE is investing $8 million into a bike share program for the City of San Diego. In 2013, DECOBIKE signed a 10-year Corporate Sponsorship Agreement with the City to create a network of bike-share stations for short-term rentals. Revenue sharing with the City will directly benefit future bicycle infrastructure and the City’s general fund. The convenience of being able to rent a bike at one location and drop off at another encourages bicycling as a convenient mode of travel, rather than relying on a car to make short distance trips.
DECOBIKES’s rolling launch began in October 2014 with station installations in Downtown San Diego. After the system is activated in San Diego’s Downtown and Uptown neighborhoods, installation teams will continue work to bring DECOBIKE stations to surrounding neighborhoods and beach communities. A current map of all approved stations in San Diego can be found at: www.DecobikeSanDiego.com.
“Rather than activate a small network of stations as first planned, DECOBIKE decided the best option would be to wait for a larger network to deploy the bikes,” said Silverman. “We feel the Downtown and Uptown stations offer enough variety to riders and then we will continue to install all the stations in surrounding communities at the same time people are out riding. This truly ‘green’ mode of transportation offers transportation options never seen before in San Diego.”
