Politics & Government

SANDAG Wants More Bikes on the Road

With free bike tune-ups on Saturday, Bike to Work Day on May 20, and bike lockers all year, it's time to ditch the car—and $4-a-gallon gas.

With near-perfect weather and a growing network of bike paths, lanes and routes, San Diego County can be considered one of the best regions in the country for commuting by pedal power. While there are some imposing hills that could make cyclists shudder, it is possible to get around using two wheels instead of four.

With buses bearing bike racks and bicycles allowed on trolleys and Coaster, Sprinter and Amtrak trains, combining a bike ride with public transit is an option that may become more appealing to commuters as gas prices continue to hover above $4 a gallon.

On May 20, SANDAG will participate in Bike to Work Day, with 75 pit stops set up all over the county providing water, snacks and free T-shirts, but only for those who get out from behind the wheel and on the saddle for at least one day. Prizes are also available for bike commuters who register ahead of time, which can be done online or at the Tune-Up Time event being held in Balboa Park on Saturday. There will be free tune-ups available, as well as a kids bicycle rodeo and demonstrations with tips on fixing bikes, choosing equipment and more. The free event will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sixth Avenue between Palm and Quince streets.

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For commuters who don’t want to leave their bike locked outside all day while they work, SANDAG has 846 bike lockers at 60 locations throughout the county, mostly at trolley and Coaster and Sprinter stations, but they can be found at other transit centers and park-and-ride lots as well. The lockers are free to use and keys are available for a $25 deposit. Locker keys can be requested online or by calling 511.

The Spring Street and La Mesa Boulevard trolley stations each have six lockers, but they are all in use, with a small waiting list, according to SANDAG’s website. In Lemon Grove, the Massachusetts Avenue trolley station currently has lockers available, and the eight lockers at the Broadway station are in use, with two people on the waiting list.

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Systemwide, around 60 percent of the lockers that are available are in use, according to Dan Martin, principal planner for SANDAG.

Most of the lockers are metal boxes assigned to one person who can simply open the door and roll the bike in, lock it up and get on a trolley, bus or train. There’s also room to store a backpack or small bag. A few locations have the new generation of bike lockers, which work on an on-demand system rather than each locker being assigned to one person.

“With the on-demand system, instead of being the one-to-one ratio, we can get up to four people in a locker, because not everyone needs to use the locker all day,” Martin said.

The new on-demand lockers will be slowly replacing the old lockers, Martin said. While the old lockers are solid metal boxes, the new ones are made so people can see what’s inside, making for better security and easier maintenance. They cost SANDAG approximately $3,000 apiece and have a 20-year life expectancy,  according to Martin.

With the new on-demand system, it’s possible that a rider will pull up to a cluster of lockers only to find that they’re all taken, Martin said. SANDAG is looking to add a feature in the future that would allow users to check online how many lockers are available at that time.

“That’s a little bit out there, but that’s where we’re headed,” Martin said.


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