Another great program is on its way to downtown San Diego, which gives residents and visitors alike yet another reason to love our downtown just as much as we do! The proposed parking stations were released just a couple days ago, and the plans have people excited about the bikes hitting the roadways, which is scheduled to come at the latter part of this calendar year.
So what is a bike sharing program, anyway? In San Diego, the program will be known as DECOBIKE San Diego. It’s similar to other programs that are located in popular cities across the country. In short, transportation around town on two wheels gets easier with these programs. The bikes are available to anyone, including visitors and San Diego residents. Once the program is up and running at its full capacity, you’ll have access to more than 1,700 bicycles that will be found at over 180 rental and sharing stations.
The way it works is simple: find a sharing station with a bike, rent it by the hour or utilize your membership, and away you go! You can “return” your bike to any sharing station in the city that has the available space. The proposed stations that were just released include locations in Uptown, Mid-City, and, of course, tons of places all over downtown. The large number of sharing stations will allow you to see San Diego as you may not have done before. With transportation and docking so easy, you can get to work or go see friends without worrying about parking or trying to find a place to lock your own bike up.
Cities like Denver, New York City, Minneapolis, and several other known names have had similar bike sharing programs running successfully for quite a long time. In 2013, Fort Worth, Texas introduced a bike sharing program in its inaugural year, and this year, Portland has started to explore the idea of implementing its own program.
As you’ll notice, San Diego’s making moves with some pretty big names in the Downtown San Diego real estate market. While each city certainly has its own personality and things to offer residents, San Diego is doing great things by implementing the kind of program that’s already proven successful in other great towns across the country. From enjoying festivals to having friends in town, downtown San Diego living is sure to get even more enjoyable once the DECOBIKEs start hitting the pavement!
If you’re excited about San Diego’s bike sharing program, we’d love to hear what you think!