By opting for app-based bike rentals, Monrovia has joined a growing number of Los Angeles County communities that have rejected traditional bike sharing programs such as those offered by the county’s mega transit agency funded by taxpayers.

City Manager Oliver Chi said the old way of bike-sharing is out-of-step with new technology offered by private companies that provide a more comprehensive service at a fraction of the cost.

“Larger transit agencies are struggling with this evolving transportation matrix,” said Chi. “With the kinds of technology in place these days, we expect things to move more quickly.”

On Saturday, the foothill city launched dock-free bike sharing provided by LimeBike, a Northern California startup like Uber and Lyft for bicycles. Also, as part of a two-fisted plan to move single-occupancy commuters into buses and trains and off the jammed 210 Freeway, the city added discounted car rides from Lyft, a ride-hailing service, within Monrovia as well as Bradbury and unincorporated south Monrovia, he said.

One of the main reasons for not pursuing traditional bike-share from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority was cost — both to the cities and the rider, he said.

Metro requires cities pay 65 percent of the operating costs and invest in the installation of bike docking and pay kiosk stations affixed to streets and alleys. Pasadena is paying $120,000 a month to keep the Metro-based system running, an amount considered so steep the city transportation staff recommended the program be terminated. That does not include the $1.3 million the city invested in infrastructure that took nine months to complete, of which about $900,000 came from a Metro grant.

“That is so much money,” Chi said during an interview Monday. In comparison, it has cost Monrovia zero dollars for allowing LimeBike to place 200 lime green bicycles in strategic spots including the city library, Library Park, the community center and the Monrovia Gold Line Station. Lyft offers 50-cent rides for folks punching in the promo code “GoMonrovia” on the smartphone app, said Darcy Nenni, Lyft’s communications manager.

Monrovia has put additional bike racks, painted bicycle drop-off spots with green paint and added wayfinding signs for both services for about $25,000, he said. Just figuring operations and maintenance costs, Pasadena is paying in five days what Monrovia paid in total.

“Those traditional bike-share bikes are more expensive to install in a city and they also take away parking spaces,” said Jack Song, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based LimeBike.

How it works

To access a LimeBike, a rider must download the app on a smartphone and register with a credit card. The app finds the nearest bike. The rider uses the phone to unlock the bike by scanning the QR code on the bike. The bike can be left anywhere as long as it doesn’t block traffic or pedestrians and is secured by pressing the self-locking lever on the bike’s back wheel. Metro’s system, in Pasadena, downtown Los Angeles and Venice, requires a rider to go to a docking station to get the bike, pay by credit or TAP card at a kiosk, and return the bike to a docking station.

Chi criticized the Metro system by saying it doesn’t fully get bike riders to a train station or bus stop, because the rider must return the bike to a docking station which may be blocks away. He also said Metro’s bike-share system is too costly for the riders, a factor that played into low ridership totals in Pasadena since July. Each LimeBike ride is $1 per 30 minutes of use, as compared to $3.50 per 30 minutes of use for a Metro bike-share walk-up ride.

Chi’s also hoping some will call for a Lyft ride to the Gold Line Station, where parking costs $3 a day — if you can get it. “I can park for $3 or for $1 roundtrip I can get a Lyft,” Chi said. “We are trying to encourage folks to get them to think about public transit” by solving the so-called first mile/last mile problem, he added.

Problems with dockless

LimeBike started in 2017 and has added bikes in Washington D.C., Seattle and locally in Watts, San Pedro and several San Diego County communities, said Jack Song, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based company.

LimeBike’s dockless system has caused problems in Dallas, where bikes were found floating in a lake and on an interstate highway. In the island city of Coronado, dockless bikes from several companies have turned up on beaches and in front of homes, raising complaints from residents who call them eyesores. The city moved Tuesday to consider a program to tag unattended bikes left in the public right-of-way and impound them if not removed within two hours.

A new LimeBike program at Cal State Northridge used by students ruffled feathers when the bikes were left blocking local businesses or sprawled on people’s lawns.

“What we always see are a few pranksters in the beginning,” Song said. “There is rider education needed.”

On Tuesday, one bike was left on the sidewalk in front of the Monrovia Post Office. Chi said the city is working closely with the company, which provides six workers to find bikes and reposition them every day.

Dave Stauw, a Monrovia resident, saw a LimeBike on the sidewalk and when someone rolled it out into the street the bike announced: ‘if you don’t stop the police will be called.’ He said: “It’s a good idea as long as people are educated as to what it is.”

Song said he’s talking to the cities of Pasadena and Arcadia. Pasadena’s Metro bike-share runs out the end of October. Metro said it is examining its fare structure and is working on changes to its bike-share system.