"It's an opportunity for people to use the train to use buses, to ride bikes, even walk here in our community," said Claremont Mayor Corey Calaycay.
Two new bikestations opened in Claremont and Covina Wednesday adjacent to Metrolink stations, giving cyclists a safe place to lock and repair bikes. The Santa Barbara station has showers and the Long Beach station is putting them in soon.
"You have lockers to keep your clothes in. You have a drinking fountain, vending machine with parts and toiletries and snacks," said Andrea White-Kjoss, CEO of Mobis, a company that specializes in alternative transportation.
All of that's available in Claremont while Covina's bikestation is a bike module that keeps bikes safe 24/7. Both are paid for by Caltrans grants.
"We used some Prop A transportation funds that we had, and I believe it was $59,800," said Covina Mayor Walter Allen.
It's worth every penny with what the citizens and the city are going to get out of it.
There are four bikestations in SoCal with Santa Monica as the next projected site.
Membership costs a dollar a day, $12 a month or $96 a year with a $20 processing fee, which many consider a bargain as bike thefts were up 29 percent last year.
Many cyclists love the bikestations but they said that the biggest obstacle is getting to one, signaling a real need for designated bike paths to get to the stations and everywhere in one piece.
