AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Josh Rowan
City Administrator Director, Department of
Transportation
SUBJECT: 19th Street Bike Station Contract
Renewal and Grant Updates
DATE: May 20, 2025
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing An Amendment And Extension Of A Cooperative Agreement With The Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) For Support Of The Operations And Management Of The Uptown Bike Station; Approving Contributions, Paid Over The Course Of Five Years, In A Total Amount Not To Exceed Three Hundred Seventy One Thousand Six Hundred Forty Dollars ($371,640) in Measure BB Bicycle and Pedestrian Funds; And Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 19th Street Uptown Oakland BART Bike Station, in operation since February 2015, provides attended and secure bicycle parking and ancillary services for up to 130 bicycles at the storefront level. The current lease was extended for three years in 2022 and expires on June 30, 2025. The Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) is negotiating a five-year lease amendment, contingent upon the BART Board’s approval of authority to execute and the City of Oakland’s (City) approval of the proposed resolution to extend a Cooperative Agreement (Agreement) with BART and contribute operating funds. The current Agreement, attached, commits the City to contributing operating funds for the three-year lease term, and commits BART to managing the lease, overseeing operations of the Bike Station, and assuming responsibility for covering any cost overruns.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Based on recommendations in the 2007 Oakland Bicycle Master Plan and the Alameda Countywide Bicycle Plan, the City, in partnership with BART, applied for and was awarded a Safe Routes to Transit grant of $531,000 from Regional Measure 2 funds in January 2012 to design and construct a new bicycle parking facility near the 19th Street BART Station.
In August 2013, the City Council approved Resolution No. 84632 C.M.S. to accept Safe Routes to Transit grant funds and authorize the City to enter into an Agreement with BART to support the operations and management of the Uptown Bike Station. The facility, located in a 2,440 square foot retail space at the corner of 19th and Broadway in Uptown Oakland (directly across the street from a BART entrance), began operations in February 2015. It has the capacity to park 130 bikes with a valet style parking program. BART’s contractor BikeHub operates the Bike Jestin Johnson (May 14, 2025 17:03 PDT)
May 14, 2025
Jestin Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: 19th Street Bike Station and Contract Renewal and Grant Updates Date: May 20, 2025 Page 2
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 27, 2025
Station, which, in addition to free valet bike parking, also provides bicycle retail and repair services designed to support and encourage bicycle access to BART. The facility currently operates on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; BART and BikeHub staff are monitoring BART ridership and bike parking demand.
The terms of both the initial lease and the cooperative agreement with BART were five years, from 2014 to 2019. In March 2019, when BART first extended the lease by three years, the City Council approved Resolution No. 87652 C.M.S. to also extend the cooperative agreement with BART for three years, through June 30, 2022. In 2022, BART again extended the lease for three years through June 30th, 2025, and the corresponding three-year extension to the cooperative agreement was approved by City Council Resolution No. 89173. (Attachment C).
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The Uptown Bike Station provides secure and free all-day bike storage for bicyclists using BART and major AC Transit routes and serves as a convenient location near downtown Oakland offices and destinations. The station helps advance the following Citywide priorities by encouraging bicycle usage and providing affordable and secure transportation services: holistic community safety and vibrant, sustainable infrastructure. It enlivens an otherwise previously empty storefront and provides a positive economic impact by encouraging bicyclists to travel to downtown Oakland.
The 2007 Oakland Bicycle Master Plan first identified the 19th Street BART Station as a priority location for a bike station. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bike parking at the Uptown Bike Station filled to capacity daily, with some bicyclists even being turned away in the late morning, demonstrating high demand for secure bike parking in the vicinity of the BART station.
Continuing to provide free and convenient bicycle repair and storage amenities in downtown Oakland encourages biking, and the Bike Station attracted steady usage even in the aftermath of COVID-19. The relatively small Bike Station has breathed new life into a once-empty storefront in uptown Oakland, provided affordable bike repair service in an underserved area of Oakland, and modestly contributed to the City’s development of the Downtown area.
FISCAL IMPACT
Adoption of the proposed resolution would enable the City to extend the existing Agreement with BART and contribute a total of $371,640 over the five-year extended lease term of July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2030, as follows in Table 1:
Table 1: City Financial
Contributions Summary
Fiscal Year
City Contribution Proposed Fund Source
2025/26 $70,000.00 Fund 2218/2219 –
Measure BB
2026/27 $72,100.00 Fund 2218/2219 –
Measure BB
2027/28 $74,263.00 Fund 2218/2219 –
Measure BB
Jestin Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: 19th Street Bike Station and Contract Renewal and Grant Updates Date: May 20, 2025 Page 3
P ublic Works & Transportation Committee
May 27, 2025
Fundi
ng to support bike station operations is anticipated to be available in either Project 1005118 (Bike and Pedestrian Operations) or Project 1000707 (Bicycle Plan Implementation).
P
UBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
The U
ptown Bike Station proposal was presented to the City's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) at their July 2011 and January 2019 meetings. The BPAC reaction to the project was positive, and members voted to endorse the extension of the Agreement between the City and BART. Prior outreach was also completed with Walk Oakland Bike Oakland and the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. A winter 2025 Survey of Uptown Bike Station customers confirmed earlier findings that the project is successful by a number of measures:
• 82% of respondents connect to BART
• 65% park 3-5 days per week
• 47% would not take BART as often if the Bike Station were not available to them, and 8%
would drive a vehicle
• 45% would not ride their bike at all, or as often, without the Bike Station • 97% are very satisfied with the service provided by the Bike Station • 79% have paid for bike repair at the Bike Station, 97% of whom gave the repairs a five- star rating
CO
ORDINATION
This project is coordinated with BART. This report and legislation have been reviewed by the Office of the City Attorney and the Budget Bureau.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: The Uptown Bike Station provides secure bicycle parking for visitors to downtown Oakland, improving access to jobs in Oakland and encouraging patronage of downtown businesses.
Environmental: Bicycling is a zero-emission form of transportation. By providing secure bike parking and ancillary services, the Uptown Bike Station encourages bicycle access to BART and downtown Oakland, thereby supporting the City’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advance climate equity.
Race & Equity: The Uptown Bike Station provides a free transportation service to Oaklanders and encourages bicycling as an affordable travel option. The station’s secure bicycle parking addresses concerns of bicycle theft, which has a disproportionate impact on low-income Oaklanders who rely on bicycles for transportation.
2028/29 $76,490.89 Fund 2218/2219 –
Measure BB
2029/30 $78,785.62 Fund 2218/2219 –
Measure BB
Jestin Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: 19th Street Bike Station and Contract Renewal and Grant Updates Date: May 20, 2025 Page 4
P ublic Works & Transportation Committee
May 27, 2025
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA)
Per California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Guidelines Sections 15064(b)(3) (common sense exemption) and 15301 (existing facilities exemption), this action is exempt under CEQA since: (1) there is no possibility this action involves an impact on the physical environment and (2) the action involves the amendment of the operation and management of an existing bike facility with no substantial or significant change to the facility.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing An Amendment And Extension Of A Cooperative Agreement With The Bay Area Rapid Transit District For Support Of The Operations And Management Of The Uptown Bike Station And Approving A Contribution In An Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Ninety-Five Thousand Dollars ($195,000.00) in Measure BB Funds; And Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Craig Raphael, Funding Program Manager, at [email protected].
Respectfully submitted,
JOSH ROWAN
Director, Department of Transportation
Reviewed by:
Jamie Parks, Assistant Director
Prepared by:
Colin Piethe, Transportation Planner II
Funding Strategy, Department of Transportation
Josh Rowan (May 13, 2025 17:11 PDT)