The Bicycle Giveaway Pilot Program was launched following a July 2022 directive from City Council, which sought to establish the program as part of West Hollywood’s broader push toward becoming a more multi-modal and bicycle-friendly community. In partnership with Schwinn, the city purchased 50 bicycles at a discounted rate, offering them to residents through a lottery system. Participants were selected in March 2023, with all bikes distributed by April of that year. The program’s objectives included reducing car dependency, lowering carbon emissions, and promoting community health.
Participants in the program agreed to ride their bikes at least 20 miles per month, submit monthly mileage reports, and adhere to conditions such as refraining from selling or loaning the bikes. However, logistical issues have surfaced, leading to challenges in maintaining and enforcing the program. For example, the city has faced problems with low participation in monthly reporting, which is essential for demonstrating the program’s public benefit under the California State Constitution’s Article 16 provisions regarding the use of public funds.
From June 2023 through May 2024, participants reported traveling a combined 6,391 miles on the bicycles, with about 54% of those trips replacing what would have been car rides. This resulted in an estimated reduction of 1.35 metric tons of CO2 emissions, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Despite some positive outcomes, the program has encountered several roadblocks. Key issues include managing the program’s administrative burden, a lack of dedicated storage for returned bikes, maintenance concerns, and low response rates to mandatory monthly surveys. Enforcement of the program’s conditions has also proven difficult, especially when participants fail to return bikes despite noncompliance with the terms.
Given these challenges, city staff have recommended concluding the current program and exploring alternatives. Among the options under consideration are bike rebate or voucher programs, which have been successfully implemented in cities such as Santa Monica, Chicago, and Atlanta. These programs allow residents to receive discounts on bicycle purchases, including e-bikes, without falling under the same legal constraints as the current program.
Another potential alternative is directing residents to LA County Metro’s Adopt A Bike Grant Program, which redistributes unclaimed bikes to those who cannot afford them. This initiative, supported by community organizations and nonprofits, operates on a bi-annual basis and targets resource-challenged communities, including people experiencing homelessness.
All they had to do was but a tracker on the bikes. It would have gathered usage info. Depending on humans to do minutia is a recipe for disaster.
Our society is not interested in a massive bike takeover, yet Chelsea Byers insists we eat a vegan burger while riding our bike and wave at the Block by Block workers who stand around on their phones… vote in November.
So, the City wants to scrap this program because they can’t get off their asses to proactively enforce the parameters that participants agreed to when being given their bicycles? A program, I might add, that seems very popular given that all fifty bicycles were distributed within a month. If a participant does not follow those parameters, how about just paying them a visit at their home and taking the bicycle back. It can then be given to someone else who, hopefully, will follow the rules more closely. Is that so tough to do? As to the “program’s administrative burden, a… Read more »
Does West Hollywood really want to end the Bicycle Giveaway Pilot Program or is it the wealthy business tycoons who always represent themselves as all of West Hollywood ❓ These evil creatures believe the worst abomination possible occurs when society helps anyone but, wealthy white business owners. The City giving away FREE Bikes to non-millionaires falls into this category, so they’re now out to destroy it❗ It shouldn’t be the least bit surprising that rich people who push to end FREE Bicycle programs to the poor, end up becoming the victims of bicycle thefts themselves.🤣 We may have a Robin… Read more »
Yes you tell em Cy, let the masses have their bike giveaway or it’s the proletariat revolution in West Hollywood!
While the bicycle program in West Hollywood is a commendable step toward reducing CO2 emissions, there’s an even more impactful initiative the city could consider: offering free or subsidized electric vehicle (EV) charging station installations for rental apartment complexes. This program would directly address one of the major barriers that residents face when considering the switch to electric vehicles—the ability to charge their cars at home. Many people I know in WeHo would happily trade in their gasoline-powered cars for EVs if they had the convenience of charging at their own residences. By making EV charging more accessible, we could… Read more »
You’re a genius. That would be a real impactful initiative. All you need is 120V plug to charge overnight. The electric bill would be linked to the associated unit.
Some places in the LA area not only give you FREE parking if you have an EV, also FREE charging⚡ that makes my E-Cycle even more 💲cost effective❗
So in other words, you can’t give this stuff away. But they’ll still build more empty bike lanes.
More like the Bike Giveaway has been completely sabotaged by the wealthy who then use their luxury SUVs to swerve at Bicycle🚲 & Scooter🛵 Riders as if to hit them when they are in these lanes. They are free to do this because law enforcement🐷 is in their back pocket and, now Bike Riders🚴🏽♀️ fear using the Bike Lanes.