A Baywheels dock recently opened “just steps away” from Golden Gate Park, bringing with it a big win for nearby mobility — sans the need for a car.
Car ownership is not the answer to urban mobility for the masses, particularly in San Francisco; we know this. SF’s network of permanent car-free corridors, courtesy of SFMTA’s Slow Streets Program, which has (thankfully) yet to sunset, shows that giving residential streets back to pedestrians is a boom for communities.
But admittedly, with the laughably small apartments we pay demoralizing sums to occupy, our individual storage space is at a premium. Owning a bike could decimate already low-volumes of closet room. It’s why bike share programs like Baywheels exist as an essential means for many who yearn to get around San Francisco with ease … but might not have spread in their domicile for a bike themselves. Or for those who simply don’t want to slink their bike down seven flights of stairs. Or those whose anxieties grow more with every hour their bike is locked outside — regardless of how thick their U-lock is.
The last week of May saw one of San Francisco’s newest bike docks — the pickup and return landings for bike share rides — open “just steps away” from Golden Gate Park off.
“Exciting news for [Baywheels] riders — a new dock is now open at Judah & La Playa, just steps away from the park and the N Judah turnaround,” reads a post on X from [at]GreatHwyPark, a community-backed account dedicated to providing updates and details on the proposed 17-acre oceanfront park that would transform the upper section of the Great Highway into a 24/7 car-free corridor.
With this new bike share dock, three Baywheel stations are currently open along the two-mile stretch of road that was made car-free during the height of the pandemic, via inclusion in SFMTA’s Slow Streets Program; the corridor was later changed to allow vehicles through it on the weekdays, but remain car-free on the weekends and holidays.
It’s easier than ever now to avoid the *insane* $25 lock fee Baywheels charges if your ride ends
