Three red JUMP bikes on University and 4th Ave in San Diego, CA.

Free JUMP ebike rides through December 9

Three red JUMP bikes on University and 4th Ave in San Diego, CA.On November 19, 2018, Uber announced the launch of dockless electric bikeshare service JUMP in San Diego. JUMP bikes are electric and provide a boost with every pedal (up to 20 mph), making it easier for riders to get around their city without breaking a sweat.

If you've been wanting to see what it feels like to ride an ebike, this is a great opportunity to check them out at no cost. Uber is giving everyone five free trips up to 30 minutes long each day through December 9. Unlock them using the Uber app by tapping the “mode switch” at the top of the Uber homescreen, select a bike, and the app will give you a pin number so you can unlock your bike. The JUMP Bikes app works pretty much the same way.

Uber's "free ride" promotion of JUMP ebikesWhile pricing varies by city, in San Diego at launch, ebikes will cost $1 to unlock and then just 10 cents per minute to ride.  JUMP will start with 300 bikes available across a 28 square mile radius, from Pacific Beach all the way downtown to Crim avenue; and from the northmost point at Chalcedony St. to the southmost point at National Ave.

In 2017, JUMP bikes launched the first ever dockless electric bike share system in the United States. JUMP’s pedal assist bikes are available in Austin, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Providence, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. They also have scooters available in Austin, Santa Monica and LA.

In California, JUMP is already bringing multimodal transportation to users across the state. In October, JUMP started expanding its fleet of bikes San Francisco, from 250 to 500 bikes after data showed that over 38,000 unique riders took more than 326,000 total trips during the pilot. Around Sacramento, JUMP recently expanded its service area by more than 50 percent to meet demand of more residents. And last week, it announced that it started deploying 3,000 ebikes and scooters across LA.

BikeSD is happy to see expanded options for bikeshare in San Diego. However, the continued shortage of safe, high-quality bike lanes across San Diego remains a substantial hindrance for riders of all kinds of low- and human-powered vehicles. We hope companies like Uber and JUMP will become partners with BikeSD to expand our advocacy and educational efforts. Without significant biking/mid-speed infrastructure improvements in San Diego, the adoption rate and potential of these new transport modes will always be limited.


Welcome Dockless Bikeshare Riders!

Hi! It’s Bike San Diego.  We’re the friendly local advocacy group fighting for safe streets to bicycle on – whether you’re going to work, school, the gym, or the park.  If you haven’t bicycled around the neighborhoods of San Diego in the past we’d like to welcome you the the fun and enjoyment that is riding a bike.  Congrats on taking the first step!  You’ve made a wise choice and one that is great for the environment, your health, building community, and driving our regional economy.  That’s the good news.

The bad news, as you may have already noticed, is that San Diego has very little support for people looking to bicycle – including in our most “walkable” neighborhoods.  Take a ride through North Park, or Pacific Beach, Little Italy, La Jolla, or pretty much any community.  Notice any bike lanes? Probably not.  You may find some sharrows but likely won’t find any sort of accommodation for safely and comfortably biking in our city.  High speed roads, speeding drivers, and a lack of dedicated bicycle lanes can make it intimidating to bicycle here, even for short trips.

But fear not! There is a large (and growing) community of people that support better bicycle infrastructure here and want to see more people reaping the benefits of biking.  This community is called Bike San Diego – BikeSD for short – and we’d like to welcome you with open arms to join us.  You can join our email list.  You can become a member and support us financially to continue our work.  You can attend a quarterly member meet-up and connect in-person with other San Diegans passionate about a healthier, happier city.  Heck – go for the bonus round and do all three!

As anyone who has spent time on our roadways in the past month, you’ve probably noticed a large increase in the number of bicyclists on our roads.  As three new dockless bikeshare companies have commenced operations in the City of San Diego (LimeBike, Mobike and Ofo), many thousands of new riders have embraced the bicycle as a fun and efficient mode of transportation.  LimeBike reported 55,000+ rides in just the first two weeks of operation.  While local media has focused on the learning curve for users and bikeshare companies, we think more attention should be paid to the tremendous increase in bicyclists on our roadways – and how to accommodate them safely.

This surge in riders has given the City of San Diego an incredible opportunity to reach its ambitious Climate Action Plan bicycle mode share goals.  The best way to do that is through a network of safe, connected bike lane infrastructure for bicyclists of all abilities.  Yet the City has recently announced a multi-year delay to the Downtown Mobility Plan, suggested slashing funding for bicycle improvements, and admitted that there is little support for bike projects among city staffers (this has been quite apparent among the city’s traffic engineers).  Like any new bicyclist, these bikeshare riders are likely encountering unsafe conditions, which can result in them opting for the Uber/Lyft app instead of the Limebike/Ofo/MoBike apps.  Let’s not squander this opportunity.

Welcome Dockless Bikeshare Riders and join BikeSD in the fight for safe streets.  Enjoy riding in San Diego and help make it more approachable, safer, and comfortable now and for the future.


The Shadowy Status of Bike Share in San Diego Gets a Bit Clearer

There has been quite a bit of coverage in the local media recently regarding dockless bike-share systems. Companies such as LimeBike, Ofo, Spin, and others have shown interest in operating in San Diego and one, LimeBike, is currently operating in Imperial Beach and National City.  These new offerings join DecoBike in providing bike-share options to the public in San Diego County.  DecoBike operates in the City of San Diego and is a "traditional" bike share system with docks that bikes are checked into and out of.  The dockless systems differ in not having the docking stations that are a staple of many bike share programs.  This increase in the bike-share options in the region would seem to be a good thing, with more options and more bikes for users as well as competitive forces spurring operators to provide good value and offer incentives, upgrades, etc to stay relevant and win market share.  However, in the City of San Diego there is some disagreement about the nature of the relationship the city has with DecoBike and whether other bike-share operators will be welcomed or even allowed in the city.

Two good articles to check out about bike share systems and the DecoBike agreement with San Diego cover the issue from a variety of angles.  They're well worth a read.

CityBeat (John Lamb) - Nov 21, 2017

Union-Tribune (David Garrick) - Dec 4, 2017

Today the DecoBike agreement and impact on future bike share programs may have gotten a bit clearer.  Below is a copy of a memo shared today on Twitter by City Councilmember David Alvarez that addresses the question of the exclusivity element of the agreement between San Diego and DecoBike.  As this issue is of interest to the BikeSD community we wanted to share it here so that others could access.  The memo appears to rebuke the notion that there is an exclusive ability for only one bike share program, DecoBike, to exist in San Diego.  The memo specifically mentions the Spin dockless system but would appear to generally support additional bike share operators.  We're also including the DecoBike agreement in full at bottom for reference.

[pdf-embedder url="https://bikesd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Exclusivity-Memo-DecoBike-and-San-Diego-Agreement-12-6-2017-1.pdf" title="Exclusivity Memo - DecoBike and San Diego Agreement - 12-6-2017"]

 

Bike San Diego greatly appreciates the efforts that the City of San Diego and DecoBike have made in bringing bike-share to San Diego.  These systems have become key elements of urban transportation systems in cities across the globe.  However, as with many aspects of building a stronger cycling culture in San Diego the most needed ingredient for success is establishing a robust network of safe roads for biking.  On that count - the most important and base level necessity - our local and regional efforts continue to be delayed, half-measures, or isolated improvements that start or end without connecting to other good options in a cohesive system.  Without a robust network any bike initiative - bike share, increasing bicycle commute mode share, hitting Climate Action Plan targets, improving air quality - will have difficulty in being successful.

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The original agreement between DecoBike and City of San Diego can be found in full below:

[pdf-embedder url="https://bikesd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Corporate-Partnership-Agreement-San-Diego-and-Deco-Bike-8-14-2013-1.pdf" title="Corporate Partnership Agreement - San Diego and Deco Bike - 8-14-2013"]

 


News, Links, Events, and Other Views - Nov 28, 2017

Check out recent news and upcoming events from San Diego and beyond.  Have an article to share for our next News & Views post? Please email us - talk@bikesd.org. Enjoy!

San Diego

California

  • Abuse of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) delayed bike lane projects for years in San Francisco and was employed by Uptown Planners Chair Leo Wilson against City of San Diego bike lanes. But California regulators have overhauled CEQA and "hope the new rules will spur more bike lanes and housing near transit":Under the current interpretation of the law, developers have to measure their project’s effects on car congestion — something that often stymies the installation of bike lanes because the removal of car lanes could tie up vehicles.The new effort would force projects to estimate the number of miles cars will travel on nearby roads. Since bike lanes won’t increase vehicle trips, and could reduce them, regulators hope the new rules could ease their development. The new proposal also would apply to residential construction in an effort to make it easier for developers to build pedestrian or bicycle friendly projects if they can show their projects will limit car travel.
  • Los Angeles drivers are killing pedestrians and bicyclists, while overturning road diet projects designed to save pedestrian lives.

Elsewhere

  • Safe Mobility is a Human Right"All people deserve to safely walk, bike, take transit, and drive through their communities regardless of their age, race, ability, or background".  Here are eight steps communities can take to become more walk and bike friendly
  • Ten rules for cities about automated vehicles (AVs) - Urbanist Jeff Speck, author of Walkable City, pens an excellent article about the potential impacts of AVs on cities.  He concludes with a great shout out to the most efficient transport on the planet - bicycles. A fantastic read.

Upcoming Events

  • BikeSD Member Meetup in North Park - Your quarterly chance to connect with other BikeSD members, chat with board members, or learn more about the organization if you're not already familiar.  Event will be at North Park Beer Company (3038 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92104) on Tuesday, December 5, with doors opening at 6 PM, a short program at 7, and concluding at 9.  This will be an opportunity to thank former Executive Director Sam Ollinger for her great work with the organization and meet Interim ED John Anderson.  Please RSVP here and spread the word!
  • BikeSD Member Meetup in Pacific Beach - In 2018 we want to do a better job of connecting with the bike community across our fair city.  We'll start with our quarterly Member Meetup being held in Pacific Beach.  Mark your calendars for March Tuesday, March 6, from 7 - 9 PM and stay tuned for details.
  • The Border to Bayshore Bikeway project will connect Tijuana to San Diego Bay.  Next community meeting will be Wednesday, December 6, 2017 from 6-8 PM at Imperial Beach Library (810 Imperial Beach Boulevard, Imperial Beach, CA 91932). RSVP via Facebook here or get more project information on the SANDAG project website.