PASADENA >> Pasadena on Friday became the first city in the San Gabriel Valley to add bike sharing, one year after downtown Los Angeles kicked off the multipronged program.

Volunteers rode 375 black and green, three-speed cruisers from City Hall plaza across the city, filling up 34 bike docking stations affixed to sidewalks, curbs and right-of-ways within the city’s central core in places such as Old Pasadena, the Rose Bowl, Paseo Colorado, Pasadena City College, Caltech, City Hall, Pasadena Convention Center, South Lake Avenue and at five of the Gold Line stops.

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Leaders from the city and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which funds the program, agreed that Pasadena — as a destination city with world-class attractions — would be an ideal community for bike-sharing primarily focused on tourists and occasional users. The program is a two-year pilot, after which Metro will evaluate its success.

“This is an experimental program. We have no guarantee of success. But we are confident people will respond, moving our objective to make Pasadena a place where you can get around without an automobile,” Mayor Terry Tornek said.

One of the objectives is to get commuters to the Gold Line stations without driving. Bike-sharing also might close the so-called “first mile/last mile” gap between home, the train station or bus stop and workplace, said Duarte City Councilman and Metro board member John Fasana.

“It will compliment the Gold Line and provide a sustainable way to get around Pasadena without having to drive,” Fasana said. “As the (bike-sharing) network expands, it improves connectivity to the burgeoning and expanding Metro rail system.”

A bike rental program could provide tourists a quick way to move about the city without driving or paying for parking. Riders unlock the bike from one kiosk and ride it to their destination, where they can dock the bike at a different kiosk instead of returning it to the same place.

Therese McMillan, Metro chief planning officer, said Metro is using a multitiered-pricing system to diversify price points. All rides must be no more than 30 minutes or riders pay extra. A $20 monthly pass provides rides for no additional charge. Exceeding 30 minutes adds $1.75 for each half hour.

Meanwhile, the $40 annual pass allows for reduced rates of $1.75 per ride. Walk-up riders pay a flat rate of $3.50 a ride.

Bike-share users can sign up online and use their existing TAP cards by adding a credit or debit card to the account by going to TapToGo.net. Or they can purchase a special bike-share TAP card.

Walk-up riders can use their registered TAP card or swipe a credit or debit card at the kiosk fee station.

Only four kiosks are located northeast of the 210 Freeway. Pasadena City Councilman Tyron Hampton said he hopes the city adds more bike stations there. He called the program an affordable option for a resident who does not own a car.

Hampton and others noted that L.A. and the entire West Coast is one of the last areas in the country to add bike-sharing. Bike Transit Systems, Inc., the Wisconsin-based vendor, has 40 locations including in Madison, Wisconsin, Nashville, San Antonio and Savannah, Georgia. The bikes are manufactured by a subsidiary of Trek Bicycles, in Waterloo, Wisconsin.

Washington D.C., New York City and Minneapolis have had bike sharing for several years.

“We are definitely later to the party than other metropolitan areas,” said Wes Reutimann, executive director of Bike San Gabriel Valley.

Bike enthusiasts see bike-sharing as adding awareness to urban bike riding, which in turn could lead to more bike lanes and protected bike lanes.

In Pasadena, plans are to add a protected bike lane on Union Street, but that’s not expected until 2021, Reutimann said.

Metro will open 11 bike-share stations in the Port of L.A. on July 31 and 15 bike-share stations in Venice later this summer.