From LA.Streetsblog.org
By Joe Linton
“Due to the unique circumstances associated with the current procurement, it is uncertain as to when the new contract will be awarded” reads the latest Metro staff report on the future of Metro Bike Share. Those unique circumstances include a twice-botched process where Metro clumsily tried to hand the system to Lyft.
Last month the Metro board approved a staff recommendation to authorize month-by-month extensions for the current system operator, Bicycle Transportation Systems, to run Metro Bike Share through May 2026.
Metro did not award the bike-share contract to BTS, the one responsive bidder not involved in repeated procurement malfeasance. Metro is instead teeing up a third procurement, confining its current bike-share operations to an uneasy limbo, not conducive to planning and expansion.