Bay Area BikeShare is an on-demand bike sharing service that is currently expanding to more communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Operating 24 hours a day, Bay Area BikeShare helps in assisting commuters close the first- and last-mile travel gap, and it gives occasional travelers an opportunity to cycle around the cities they visit easily and with no hassle.
Originally started in San Francisco in 2011, it has then expanded to operate bike racks in San Jose, Redwood City, Palo Alto, and Mountain View to augment traditional bike rental services and to expand its reach to Silicon Valley, a region where trips by bike are expanding rapidly. Palo Alto, in particular, enjoys immensely from this service, given that it is home to Stanford University wherein a sizable number of students and employees travel around the campus and city by bicycle. |
Bike Rack Locations
Currently, BikeShare racks in San Francisco are concentrated mostly in the northeast quadrant of the City, a majority of which can be found along Market Street, in the Financial District, Civic Center, and South of Market. In Redwood City, Palo Alto, and Mountain View, bike rack locations are more spread out that each Caltrain station has a BikeShare rack, and additional racks can be found near residential apartments and major points of interest. In San Jose, it is currently focused around the Downtown core, San Jose State University, and Santa Clara County Civic Center. And, it is undergoing a massive expansion program wherein it is poised to bring in up to 7,000 more bikes to even more cities in the region.
If you live in the region, you can even help Bay Area BikeShare in suggesting where to put bike stations. Click here for more information.
If you live in the region, you can even help Bay Area BikeShare in suggesting where to put bike stations. Click here for more information.
Pricing
There are two types of membership: daily and annual membership. Daily membership can be further broken down into two categories: 24-hour and 3-day memberships. For such membership types, you can go to a bike shed where around 10 to 20 bikes await, follow the instructions on the machine, use a credit or debit card, and you will be on your way to renting a bike for a short trip to work or a longer excursion.
Take note: for 24-hour and 3-day memberships, a pre-authorization hold of $101 per bike is placed on your card account, which is not a permanent charge. The hold amount is a security deposit and will be released once the hold expires, unless your bike is stolen or lost during the membership. Holds may last up to 10 days, depending on the card company. Bay Area BikeShare recommends using a credit card when purchasing daily memberships.
An annual membership is best for local residents and commuters, in which you will receive a unique key in the mail that will allow you to unlock any bicycle (where available) throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. It is available online here, and you can order one for yourself or for someone else. Also available is a 30-day trial for $29.95, in which you can check out the benefits of Bay Area BikeShare wherever you are in the region.
Take note: for 24-hour and 3-day memberships, a pre-authorization hold of $101 per bike is placed on your card account, which is not a permanent charge. The hold amount is a security deposit and will be released once the hold expires, unless your bike is stolen or lost during the membership. Holds may last up to 10 days, depending on the card company. Bay Area BikeShare recommends using a credit card when purchasing daily memberships.
An annual membership is best for local residents and commuters, in which you will receive a unique key in the mail that will allow you to unlock any bicycle (where available) throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. It is available online here, and you can order one for yourself or for someone else. Also available is a 30-day trial for $29.95, in which you can check out the benefits of Bay Area BikeShare wherever you are in the region.
24-Hour |
3-Day |
Annual |
$9 |
$22 |
$88 |
No matter the membership, you get free 30 minutes' worth of cycling time. However, additional costs occur after the first 30 minutes of use, in which you might want to consider whether Bay Area BikeShare is a good value than getting a daily bike rental from a reliable bike dealer or tour company.
Up to 30 minutes |
30 to 60-minute trip |
Each additional 30 minutes |
Free |
$4 |
$7 |
My personal story with Bay Area BikeShare: when an Urban Planning class brought me to Mountain View to bike through the Google Campus one Saturday afternoon, I did not bring a bike because I did not have one handy. I went to the Bay Area BikeShare rack, rented a bicycle, toured the North Bayshore neighborhood for around 4 hours, and my rental bill went to $55. Had if I booked a bike from a reputable bike company in town ahead of time (but not before an early start to the tour), I would have saved around $20.
What do the Bikes and Bike Stations Look Like?
Electric Bike Plus
In Spring 2018, Ford Go Bike added new electric bikes to complement its growing fleet of manual powered bikes that will be scattered throughout the Bay Area. Called Electric Bike Plus, it operates similar to the electric bike sharing services provided by Jump and Lime, and these are being tested in San Francisco. Renting them is similar to the regular Go Bike above.