Bay Area Bike Share program rolls out ambitious growth plan

Brendan Monghan prepares to ride a Bike Share bicycle to work in S.F., which could get 4,000 more bikes. Brendan Monghan prepares to ride a Bike Share bicycle to work in S.F., which could get 4,000 more bikes. Photo: Leah Millis / The Chronicle Photo: Leah Millis / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Bay Area Bike Share program rolls out ambitious growth plan 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

The Bay Area could soon see a population explosion — of bicycles, that is.

The Bay Area Bike Share program would expand tenfold, from 700 to 7,000 bikes, under a proposal announced Thursday by the mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville.

Under the plan, the bike-share program would extend for the first time into the East Bay. It would also increase the number of bikes and bike stations in San Francisco and San Jose, which are two years into a pilot program.

In San Francisco, the number of bikes would jump from 328 to 4,500; in San Jose from 129 to 1,000. In the East Bay, 850 bikes would go to Oakland, 400 to Berkeley and 100 to Emeryville.

Not every place wins. Redwood City, Palo Alto and Mountain View, which participated in the pilot program, are cut out of the new proposal, based on low ridership numbers.

A committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will consider the measure at its meeting on Wednesday, and the full commission will vote on it later this spring. If approved, installation of the new stations would take place in 2016 and 2017.

“It’s awesome,” said San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, who sits on the MTC. “This is exactly what we all wanted to happen.”

Noah Budnick, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said the expansion fulfills the twin challenges of bike-share programs: having enough bikes and enough stations.

“'Massive’ is the operable word here,” he 4said. “Because you need to have the density of bikes and stations to make the system convenient and easy to use.”

Motivate, the company that manages the bike-share programs in New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, will operate the Bay Area program.

Last year, Motivate bought Alta Bicycle Share, which managed San Francisco’s pilot bike-share program but had significant management problems.

Budnick said Motivate’s buyout of Alta Bicycle Share allowed many cities to move forward with expanding their programs.

“One of the advantages of a private operator is they are really success-driven and want to see the program succeed,” he said. To fund the program, Motivate would seek sponsorships from corporations.

A downside to private management is that the cities will have somewhat less say in where the bike stations are located, Budnick said.

Those decisions will be made in consultation with residents and local businesses, according to a press release announcing the partnership. At least 50 stations are planned for the East Bay.

Renee Rivera, executive director of Bike East Bay, said she expects the program to boost the local economy.

“It’s going to make it easier for people to shop local, and I am expecting that will also be a real benefit to our communities.”

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement that the proposed expansion of the program “will help residents and visitors move around our diverse San Francisco neighborhoods, and around the Bay Area region more easily.”

Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emilytgreen