Bay Wheels looking to add hundreds of e-bikes to East Bay fleet

Getting around town might get a lot easier, especially for college students in the East Bay.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission wants to subsidize 20,000 annual Bay Wheels passes for community college and public university students across the Bay Area, with the addition of 600 electric bikes and 19 stations in Oakland. The rollout would begin in 2027 if a proposed contract between Lyft and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission comes to fruition.

The project is part of the larger Plan Bay Area 2050 initiative to electrify transportation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, there were 75 Bay Wheels stations in Oakland in 2022. These stations house bikes that can be unlocked with a Clipper card or Bay Wheels application. None of them, however, contains e-bikes, which are known to increase accessibility and mobility among riders. By lowering fees and diversifying the kinds of bicycles offered, Bay Wheels expects an increase in ridership.

“We have learned e-bikes have a higher utilization than pedal bikes,” Laura Krull, MTC Bikeshare coordinator, said at an operations committee meeting in February.

E-bikes are still relishing in the pandemic-era bike boom, as sales continue to climb year after year amid high gas prices. Sales more than doubled between 2020 to 2021 in the U.S. and outpaced electric cars in 2021, with a total of around 820,000 e-bikes sold, according to the Transportation Research and Education Center at Portland State University. The bikes’ ease of use generates more trips, which is another reason that Bay Wheels is looking to make room for them in the East Bay.

“We have learned e-bikes have a higher utilization than pedal bikes,” Laura Krull, MTC Bikeshare coordinator, said at an operations committee meeting in February.

E-bikes are still relishing in the pandemic-era bike boom, when many people discovered them while looking for new recreational activities. Sales have continued to climb amid high gas prices. Sales more than doubled between 2020 to 2021 in the U.S. and outpaced electric cars in 2021 with a total of around 820,000 bikes sold, according to the Transportation Research and Education Center at Portland State University. Their ease-of-use is proven to generate more trips, another reason that Bay Wheels is looking to make room for them in the East Bay.

Bike advocate Raul Maldonado noted during the February MTC meeting that public e-bikes are late in coming to the East Bay, where people across income levels have been looking for sustainable alternatives to gas-fueled vehicles.

“E-bikes were never an option in the East Bay and thus, riders never saw that future alternative and impact with e-bikes,” he said.

The MTC would provide Bay Wheels memberships for college students, which would allow users to unlock bikes for free, take longer trips, and reduce cost-per-minute pricing. Memberships are ideal for frequent riders who incorporate the bicycles into their daily commutes.

Under the proposed contract, membership would cost $150 a year. But, as is the case now with Bay Wheels pedal bikes, you would not need a membership to rent an e-bike.

This story was updated to correct the number of Bay Wheels stations in Oakland.

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