Santa Cruzans will remember the first attempt by the City of Santa Cruz to create a fleet of shared rental ebikes. From its 2018 inception, the bright red Jump bikes were a common sight.
But too many were found abandoned with dead batteries in the middle of sidewalks, or in remote locations, before the City abandoned the program in 2020.
In June of 2023, the City tried again, with a different vendor, Wisconsin-based BCycle (Wisconsin?!) Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley and transportation planner Claire Gallogly were among the first to try out the BCycle e-bikes (photo credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz).
So far, this system seems to be working better, with equal popularity and plenty of bike locations.
If all goes well, the program will expand next year into other parts of the County.
