Setting up bike rental stations around Pasadena was a silly idea in the first place and as of Thursday, August 16th, the bikes and their stations are being removed. And, so far, I have not seen any of those electric scooters on the streets here in Pasadena to take the place of bikes.
UPDATES: 1) It turns out Pasadena was paying Metro $100,000 PER MONTH for the bike rental stations and bikes.
2) As of August 24th, 2018, The City of Pasadena is developing regulations for electric scooters and
3) I saw three guys on electric scooters over by the Westlake Apartments, that huge rental complex at Green and Pasadena St.
From the beginning when Metro installed bikes in downtown L.A. and I saw them at a CicLAvia bicycling event, I had questions. The biggest was why on earth was Metro wasting public funds setting up a bike rental business when there were many private, local bike companies who could do it easily.
Metro is supposed to built tracks and trains — not worry about getting their passengers through the last mile or last block home.
I guess the blessing in all this is that the Metro bikes, at least in Pasadena, have failed. Maybe that’s why private bike businesses didn’t set up rental stations before. It wasn’t a viable business. The only successful bike rental businesses I know about are at the beach. Tourists love them.
As long as I am on the topic of Metro financial expenditures–bureaucrats spending taxpayers’ money–I like to know why Metro Link (the Inter-urban train that runs on train tracks from downtown L.A. to San Bernardino) is dueling with Metro Rail about establishing a Metro Gold Line station in Claremont, a city that Metro Link already serves. It’s a crazy duplication of effort!
And the last of this rant: why isn’t the Gold Line being extended beyond the Atlantic Station in East L.A.? Anyone have an answer?
