UCLA’s bike share network just got bigger. Starting April 23, Bruin Bike Share will join the systems used in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood to form Bike Share Connect.
Instead of the 130 bikes and 18 hubs on and near campus, the new network will include 830 GPS-connected bikes and 135 hub locations across all four systems, which is the Los Angeles region’s first integrated bike share network. It encompasses a 35-square-mile area stretching from Venice Beach to Hollywood and Highland.
“With the newly expanded network, people living in the system area now have more choices for getting around town, or even commuting to and from campus,” said Dave Karwaski, UCLA Transportation’s senior associate director for planning, policy and traffic systems.
Existing users of Bruin Bike Share will automatically have access to the Bike Share Connect network. New users can join by downloading the Social Bicycles app, selecting the Bike Share Connect network, and choosing a payment plan. Customers without a smartphone can create an account at any time by visiting the Bike Share Connect website or by using one of the 16 self-service kiosks located within the network. Members can then unlock a bike by entering their phone number or six-digit account number on the back of the bike, plus their four-digit PIN.
With Bike Share Connect, UCLA staff, faculty and students get 90 minutes of daily ride time throughout the entire system at a special rate of $7 a month or $72 a year. Additionally, Bike Share Connect’s smart bikes allow users to rent and return a bike to any system bike hub or public bike rack within 100 feet of a system hub. Bike Share Connect includes UCLA’s original Bruin Bike Share, along with Breeze Bike Share in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills Bike Share and WeHo Pedals Bike Share in West Hollywood.
Bruin Bike Share helps UCLA reduce its carbon footprint, encourages the members of the campus community to be physically active and get out of their cars, helps enable midday short trips for those with or without a car, offers an easy way to get across campus and supports a basic tenant of UCLA’s Healthy Campus Initiative. More access to bikes means a better, more livable campus and Westwood Village.
Bruin Bike Share launched in October 2017 to provide UCLA staff, faculty, students, visitors and the broader community a new option for making healthy and sustainable on- and off-campus trips. UCLA is working with CycleHop, who installed Bruin Bike Share and the other three systems in the Bike Share Connect network. CycleHop will continue to operate and maintain the bikes.