If Jessica Schiller has her way, there will soon be floating bikes crossing the bay from morning to night, commuters escaping the perils of BART and the traffic snarls of the bridge by pedaling amid the whales and container ships.

For now, the Oakland Estuary will have to do.

After attending a March demonstration, Oakland and Alameda officials have given the Mill Valley entrepreneur the go-ahead to install a fleet of 25 electrically assisted water bikes that will allow commuters to ride between the Jack London Square area in Oakland and either Mariner Square or the Grand Street dock in Alameda.

As with the land-based scooters and e-bikes that fill the roads, commuters will use a mobile app to claim a bike on either side of the estuary, ride across the 200-yard expanse of water and surrender it on the opposite side, paying by the minute. The bikes, which Schiller invented in 2013, resemble mini-catamarans: a standard bicycle frame suspended over two inflatable pontoons, with a drop-down propeller powered by pedals and a 750-watt motor. The pontoon design provides stability so users can ride the bikes without having to worry about tipping or getting wet.

Though pricing and specifics still need to be ironed out, Schiller plans to start the program in July.

Brittany Hosea-Small / Special to The Chronicle

As idealistic as Schiller’s vision might be, her company will have to address several challenges. For starters, considering the boat traffic in the Oakland Estuary, who will teach users how to navigate busy waterways? What’s stopping users from taking a bike and pedaling off? And what about safety?

Ginger Jui, executive director of Bike East Bay, a nonprofit that promotes bicycle transportation, is cautiously optimistic. “It certainly is a creative option, (but) it’s hard to say how big it could be,” said Jui, who uses the pronoun they. “We do know that there is a real desire for everyday folks to have an active, accessible option in their commute.”

So far, city officials in Oakland and Alameda are intrigued by the prospect and willing to give it a shot.

“People have been thinking about ways to improve transit between Oakland and Alameda for years,” said Ryan Russo, director of transportation for the city of Oakland. “These bikes are a fun, fast and sensible approach to addressing the problem.”

Speaking for Alameda, Rochelle Wheeler, senior transportation coordinator in the city’s Transportation Planning Division, agreed. “We see this as a fantastic near-term solution to improving access to Alameda,” she said, noting that Lime pulled its electric scooters out of Alameda last month. “We are expecting a lot of waterfront development in the next few years, so this would be a piece of a bigger transit puzzle, not the only answer.”

According to Schiller, the bikes reduce crossing time to a few minutes — an improvement on the stop-and-go schlep required to cross any of the four bridges that span the estuary. The water route also provides a biking alternative to the Posey Tunnel, which connects the two cities underwater but has a narrow and notoriously treacherous sidewalk.

“Think about it: You never pay by the minute to do anything on the water,” Schiller said. “We’re disrupting that and making mobility something everybody can afford for the price of a latte.”

Users will be required to go through a brief water-safety and instructional tutorial on the mobile app and sign a liability waiver before taking their first ride. Schiller noted that each bike will come with a personal flotation device, and employees will be on hand at each dock to manage bikes as they come and go.

Schiller Bikes would manage the water bike rental program, requiring no financial commitment from the cities involved. Schiller’s company also would cover insurance. Schiller wouldn’t reveal how much the bikes cost to produce, but her company now sells bikes without electrical assistance for $5,500.

At a trial run in San Francisco’s McCovey Cove on April 6, Giants fans lined up to watch Schiller and colleagues motor around, and Schiller and her crew made the Jumbotron inside Oracle Park.

The demo was part of a bigger effort to woo San Francisco city officials. Over the next few years, Schiller hopes to expand her water-bike rental program with six to eight stations around the San Francisco waterfront between the Marina and Hunters Point. She has shared the idea with city agencies and groups, but none has endorsed the idea to date.

Ultimately, Schiller envisions a fleet of electric water bikes commuting across San Francisco Bay, though the 4-mile crossing to the East Bay transects active shipping channels, and weather, chop and swell in the bay can make navigation difficult for novices.

“Urban waterways are like empty highways just waiting to be used for transportation,” she said. “This is just the beginning of new and brilliant future on a blue planet.”

Matt Villano is a Healdsburg freelance writer. Email: style@sfchronicle.com