As the rental bicycles were taken off the streets of Pasadena, I had a thought: It wasn’t the bicycles that were needed, but rather a safe place to ride them.

Harsh? Perhaps. But true. At least that’s my opinion.

I’m talking about the failure of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s bike-share program in the Crown City, which started in July 2016 and ended this month.

In short, not enough people rode them.

Also, Pasadena never received a sponsorship, leaving a hefty cost entry on the city ledger.

Costs

While the numbers are confusing in the Sept. 18 memo released by Fred Dock, director of the city’s Department of Transportation, it appears the program cost the city $598,193 in in-kind costs (such as providing rights-of-way and adjusting street meters).

Also, payments to Metro for operation, maintenance and kiosk construction (20 percent share), and removing the racks and kiosks cost $2,145,083.

Now, the city did get grant funds from the taxpayer-supported Measure M: $381,854 for the initial capital cost and $466,411 for operations and maintenance in 2017, according to Dock’s memo.

There is $1,260,663 in similar grants available in 2018. So some of the city’s costs will be offset by Measure M money, according to the memo.

In actuality, the taxpayers of Los Angeles County got left with their bike pants down, since the one-half cent sales tax for transportation improvements — including the cost of bike-share — is paid in stores and restaurants throughout the county.

“It is a done deal. We are not continuing it,” said Lisa Derderian, city spokesperson on Friday. Similar emphatic statements were made by the mayor when I spoke to him earlier this year. The costs were too high for the benefits.

Instead, Derderian said the city is “exploring dockless solutions,” adding: “We are having discussions with other companies to evaluate options.”

She was careful to say Pasadena did not want a deja-vu experience from Santa Monica and Culver City, with LimeBike and Bird electric scooters. Seems like many of these cheap rentals were scattered about the city (hence the term dockless), making a mess.

Now, Uber and Lyft want to get into the electric bike and electric scooter rental business. Actually, as those cities work it out, it will be good for other cities to learn the ups and downs of bikesharing, be it pedal bikes or powered ones.

But for now, no more bike rentals in Pasadena.

Safe spaces

To wit, I’ve noticed a lot of people riding their own bicycles.

Some are red. Some black. Some have saddle bags draped off the back wheel. I love the ones with the colored lights on the spokes. It’s actually cool to see all the different kinds of bikes.

On Walnut Street are the usual sidewalk riders. In fact, many riders take to the sidewalks on Colorado Boulevard, Lake Avenue, Foothill Boulevard, Sierra Madre Boulevard, etc. If you are riding on Del Mar or Cordova, you have some painted bike lane space — sometimes — but it’s still touch-and-go.

I’ve been in too many close calls with cars when I ride my bicycle on those streets. Orangegrove? Forget about it. Too dangerous.

And that’s generally the story with bicycle riding in Pasadena and in most of our tree-line, car-choked suburban cities. It’s a sad reality: The streets are used by cars. They are 4,000 pound machines that can crush our 180-pound bodies and naked bike frames.

So the last ride I took was over the weekend on the Santa Fe Dam bike path.

It’s dedicated. No cars allowed. Also, I’ve shot down the dedicated bicycle track in Temple City. Quite nice, considering it parallels busy Rosemead Boulevard. I always feel safe on it.

The scary feeling of cars speeding behind me doesn’t happen. And Rosemead, El Monte and Baldwin Park have added bike lanes recently.

If this failure taught us anything, it is this: It’s not the bikes that we need, it’s the safe spaces to ride.

Steve Scauzillo covers public health, environment and alternative transportation for the Southern California News Group and is a recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing from The Wilderness Society. Contact him via email him at sscauzillo@scng.com or @stevscaz on Twitter and Instagram.