L.A. Metro opens bike center

The City of Santa Monica and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) officially opened a new $2 million "Santa Monica Bike Center."

Two ground-floor bike center locations in the Santa Monica Place Mall parking structure combined feature nearly 5,300 square-feet of dedicated space and nearly 360 secure bicycle parking spaces, making it the highest capacity secure bicycle parking facility in the U.S.

A "hub" for the downtown community that offers close connections to existing and planned public transit, the new bike center will offer showers and lockers for regular commuters, attended valet parking for visitors, bike rentals and repairs, travel information and related services for all those who cycle in Santa Monica.

Major transit stops for Metro and Santa Monica Big Blue Bus are directly connected to the bike center's main location at 2nd Street and Colorado Avenue. The bike center is also within close proximity to the future Expo Line Phase II light rail station at 4th Street and Colorado Avenue. The Expo Line extension from Culver City to Santa Monica, scheduled to open in 2015, will also include rail line-adjacent bikeway.

The project received $1.5 million from Metro as part of its 2007 Call For Projects Program, which allocates discretionary federal, state and local transportation funds to improve all modes of surface transportation, including bikeway improvements.