A Public Bike Sharing Program Launches in the Bay Area

Today five cities in the Bay Area celebrated the launch of Bay Area Bike Share, California's first public bike sharing program and one of the first in the nation to bring shared bikes to commuters on a regional, multi-city level. Now in a pilot stage, the program offers 700 bikes at 70 stations strategically located in centers of employment and dense residential neighborhoods of San Francisco, Redwood City, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and San Jose. It is scheduled to include 1000 bikes at 100 stations by early 2014. Bay Area Bike Share is the much anticipated outcome of a trailblazing partnership involving numerous public agencies that all aim to encourage transit use and bicycling as a realistic alternative to driving. These five local cities join over 500 municipalities around the world and more than two dozen U.S. cities that also host bike sharing programs. Laura Garzon Chica reports.