Bikestation
offers cleaner transportation
By Toby Lewis
On-line Forty-Niner
Cal
State Long Beach students who are looking
for alternative means of transportation
may find what they are looking for with
the Bikestation Long Beach.
The station, which is the first of it’s
kind in the United States, was built to
encourage public transportation while reducing
pollution and traffic for the City of Long
Beach.
“The idea was to inspire bike commuter culture,”
said Georgia Case, Media and Public Relations
Director for the center. The center offers
free valet parking for bikes in a secure
area and is located close to all major public
transit centers in downtown Long Beach.
The Bikestation also is a “clean mobility
center,” which means that they offer electric
bike rentals, electric scooter, and even
electric car rentals.
Students who live on campus and do not have
transportation can take a bus to the center,
which is located on the corner of 1st Street
and Promenade in downtown Long Beach, and
rent an electric vehicle of their choice
and use it as they see fit.
According to Case, Bikestation is ideal
for students to rent a vehicle to run errands
or to use for recreational purposes.
According to Long Beach Transit, from Cal
State Long Beach, students can catch the
91, 92, 93 or 94 buses that will take them
directly from the center.
From there they can rent a bike, scooter
or car to take them wherever they need to
go.
The center also offers bike maps of the
many various bike routes throughout the
Long Beach area.
The facility also has a restroom and change
room, a small café, overnight storage
for bikes, and they offer bike licensing,
which is required for all bikes in the City
of Long Beach.
Amenities such as air for tires, bike repair,
and a bike accessories shop are also offered.
Bikestation has been in operation since
1996 and has seen a steady increase in the
number of people using it.
“It has become more of a fixture rather
than a demonstration,” Case said.
According to Case, the idea was modeled
after similar programs already in effect
in Europe and Japan.
“The idea was to offer alternative means
of transportation that are better for the
environment and that will produce less traffic
in Long Beach,” Case said.
Since the center’s opening in 1996, other
Bikestations have opened in Berkeley and
Palo Alto, and more are being developed
in cities like San Francisco and throughout
California.
According to Case, the Bikestation has been
very successful.
“It has encouraged thousands of trips [for
bikes] that would otherwise have been taken
by cars,” she said.
The center also has been a pioneer in encouraging
new facilities to open throughout the country.
For rates on renting alternative transportation,
visit www.bikestation.org.
The City of Long Beach hopes that the facility
will also be a pioneer in encouraging environmentally
conscious forms of public transportation
throughout the rest of the country.
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