There was a whole lot of fanfare back in April 2012 when the city announced that private operator Bike Nation would be creating the nation's second largest bike sharing program in Los Angeles. After some promising early movement, the plan ran into a little trouble earlier this year, and now "it looks to be dead," according to the Downtown News. Apparently no one bothered to check on the city's existing and exclusive deal with CBS/JCDecaux to advertise through 2021 on street furniture, which includes bike kiosks--Bike Nation would've had to find a corporate sponsor that was cool with only advertising on the bikes themselves and not the kiosks (or made do with just the revenue from the rentals). Now, with Bike Nation slowly stepping away, Metro is conducting a review of the bike share industry and hoping to create a (more sensible) regional bike share covering LA and neighboring cities like West Hollywood and Santa Monica; results are expected in January (so don't expect a system for at least a year). As far as Bike Nation, they're moving ahead with systems in Long Beach and Fullerton (!), "cities that do not have restrictions on street furniture advertising."

· Will Los Angeles Ever Get a Bike Share Program? [DN]

· Bike Nation Archives [Curbed LA]