LA Metro Bike Share
Los Angeles, CA
Project Summary
The Los Angeles Metro Bike Share system is one of the largest docked bikeshare programs in the country. Through a unique arrangement with the LA Metro Transit Agency, the program operates as an extension of the City’s public transit system, ensuring that the bike share program can realize its potential for travelers as a first- and last-mile connection to transit.
The LA Metro Bike Share system currently operates in Downtown and Central Los Angeles, on the UCLA campus, and on the Westside (including Santa Monica, Hollywood, and North Hollywood). Recently, the system also added service along the new South LA Rail-to-Rail Path and D-Line subway extension. As the Metro Council approves expansion of the bikeshare system into new areas, Toole Design is working with staff and local communities to identify potential station locations, examine transit demand with a focus on equity to select preferred station sites, and oversee detailed site measurement, design, and permitting.
Building out the BikeShare System
While LA has historically been a very car-oriented city, the LA Metro Bike Share program has been buoyed by active transportation and transit infrastructure expansions in recent years, while also increasingly being integrated into new projects. As of 2026, LA Metro has nearly connected the original Downtown and Central services areas to the large Westside service area, in conjunction with the new D-Line stations, which will ultimately create nearly 15 linear miles of continuous bikeshare service area.
Toole Design has played an important role in system expansion over the past decade to reach LA Metro’s goal of 250 deployed stations. To get there, our staff have evaluated over 1,000 bikeshare station locations, out of which nearly a third resulted in detailed station plans and permits. For each station, we created a stamped and signed engineering site plan that follows ADA guidance, LADOT guidelines, and bike share placement best practices. While the initial project goal of 250 deployed stations has been accomplished, the adaptable nature of bikeshare has allowed stations to be evaluated and moved to new locations to increase ridership and accessibility.
Our team has also supported LA Metro in developing an expansion plan, to envision the future of the bikeshare station network over the next two decades. The expansion plan’s goals were to maximize bikeshare’s role as a first- and last-mile complement to the region’s growing transit network, including new subway stations and transit hubs. Since collaborating on the expansion plan, we have helped move several areas identified in the plan into the implementation phase, including expanding the service area into South LA and connecting Downtown and Central LA with the Westside.