Solvang’s bike retailers, pedicabs, and trolley tours could face new competition if city officials follow through with a recent bike share proposition.
Introduced by Solvang City Councilmember Mark Infanti during the council’s Nov. 8 meeting, the program’s inspired by Santa Barbara’s electric bike sharing model.
Infanti frequently used BCycle, Santa Barbara’s e-bike provider, as an example to discuss whether or not using a company of this kind could be feasible for the city. While companies like BCycle don’t often charge large cities, like Santa Barbara, to facilitate the program, a small town like Solvang would be subject to setup and maintenance costs and other fees, Infanti explained.
The council member said he recently spoke to a BCycle representative, who recommended that a city of Solvang’s size should implement at least 20 rental bikes (40 rental docks), and estimated setup would cost about $114,000 (and about $48,000 a year to maintain the service).
To avoid these fees, Infanti proposed the possibility of teaming up with other cities in the Santa Ynez Valley to pitch a valleywide bike share program.
“If we get a bicycle path between Buellton and Solvang, and start putting hoops in different places, now we’re getting to a size where BCycle would be willing to take it on without charging,” Infanti said.
While the e-bike offering could attract tourists, Infanti said it could also appeal to workers in downtown Solvang and lead to less parking congestion. Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Orona agreed that fewer cars parked on the street would be beneficial.
“If they [people working downtown] have an alternative mode of transportation, that frees up parking for other people,” said Orona, who suggested the city conduct a survey to see how many downtown workers would be interested in a bike share program.
Councilmember Robert Clarke said he likes the bike share concept overall, but is concerned about “what some of the merchants would think about 40 charging stations downtown, and where do you put them,” he said.
Mayor Charlie Uhrig said if a bike share program was to move forward, he would also feel concerned about finding the right locations for renters to dock their bikes.
“The sidewalks that we have are really not conducive to putting charging stations on them,” said Uhrig, adding that he would like to continue discussing the program’s potential in future meetings.
Uhrig also said he would like to bring local bike retailers into the conversation to see if they can offer any alternative programs to consider against BCycle’s model.
This article appears in Nov 11-18, 2021.