If you’ve considered renting one of the light blue bicycles publicly available in racks throughout Long Beach but wanted something easier to pedal, take notice: Electric bikes are coming. Lots of them.
About 700 pedal-assisted e-bikes are joining Long Beach’s bicycle share program next year, and thousands more will follow after the Long Beach City Council approved a $25.7 million contract with San Francisco and Toronto-based Drop Mobility.
The city wanted to expand its bike share to include e-bikes to “open up the avenues for more mobility” as e-bikes allow people “to go further distances than they would,” said Jocelin Padilla, spokesperson for the city’s Public Works Department. Like so many other projects, this one is tied to the 2028 Olympics as one way to skirt Olympic gridlock traffic.
For years, Long Beach has allowed private companies like Lime and Bird to drop e-bikes and scooters around the city for people to rent, but this program is different in that it’s bigger and the bikes are owned by the city. The new pedal-assisted e-bikes, which top out at 16 miles per hour, will supplement the city’s fleet of 480 working blue pedal bikes provided by Long Beach-based Pedal Movement.
That means riders using the app to reserve a bike will see older “acoustic” (pedal) and new e-bike options for rental. There should be 2,000 e-bikes on the road by the last year of the 3-year contract.
“I’m super excited more people will get to ride e-bikes,” said Kerry Beth Kauffman, an organizer for Car-Lite Long Beach, which advocates for safer streets. “My concerns are, are they going to be accessible, are they going to be working properly? Is it going to be cost-effective, or will it be cost-prohibitive?”
In addition to deploying 700 pedal-assist electric bicycles in the first year of the contract, Drop agreed to convert 150 of the city’s existing pedal bicycles to the new software platform and expand station hubs across Long Beach. Drop administers the program, and the city sets the prices and keeps the revenue, according to filings with the city. City officials said prices will be determined in the coming months and that the lower-cost Bikeshare for All program will continue.
Riders should not notice a change, said Amber Wason, vice president of growth and innovation for Drop Mobility, except for an app update when the new system, and new bikes, enter the transom. All previous bike share rider agreements will be honored, she said.
“We’re just the enablers,” said Wason. “Everything remains the same unless the city makes the changes.” Wason said the company has “a long record” of incorporating older bikes and different software into its system: “This is not our first rodeo.”
Drop predicted the boost in the program will lead to more ridership. A lot more.
“Based on Drop’s experience transitioning bikeshare systems to electric bicycles, the vendor projects that Long Beach could experience up to a 500 percent increase in ridership by year 3 if the City operates the full fleet size available through the contract,” according to a Sept. 22 memo from Public Works Director Joshua Hickman.
That boost is intended to offset the cost of operation and maintenance under the new contract. And if it doesn’t, the remaining costs will be paid with Measure A sales tax funds appropriated through the annual budget process.
Drop Mobility maintains or services ride-share programs in New Orleans, Kansas City, Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts and other locations.
The city chose Drop over Pedal Movement, the Long Beach company that has administered the pedal bike program since 2017. The decision followed a lengthy procurement process and several delayed votes before a final, contentious Oct. 6 City Council vote. City staff cited cost (about $4.7 million cheaper than Pedal Movement the first year) and other factors in making its selection.
The final tally was 5-3, with councilmembers Megan Kerr, Mary Zendejas and Cindy Allen dissenting. The chamber was filled with Pedal Movement employees and supporters who decried the process and the potential loss of local jobs. Drop Mobility’s bid got the highest score despite the 10-point “local company” bonus awarded to Pedal Movement.
Drop Mobility agreed to offer interviews to Pedal Movement employees and move its Southern California facility from La Mirada to Long Beach.
Drop Mobility provides about 400 bikes for the Blue Bikes bike share program in New Orleans, including bike valet service during events like Mardi Gras. In New Orleans, community-based non-profit Blue Krewe administers the program and Drop provides the bikes. That’s a different setup from Long Beach, where Drop Mobility will provide bikes and maintain the program.
Leo Fraser, Blue Krewe’s executive director, called Drop Mobility a responsive partner since the program restarted in 2021 after a previous bike provider backed out. He said Drop Mobility switched to bikes with enhanced security and locking features after a rash of thefts and hurricanes emptied out New Orleans bike racks in 2024. Supply chain issues made repairs challenging. It took between six months and a year to develop and then deploy the new bikes. A robust federal grant helped.
Fraser called bike share in general “a very very very challenging business.”
Kauffman, of the cycling advocacy organization Car-Lite Long Beach, said Long Beach has its own problems with bike theft – her own locked bike was stolen on Christmas Eve – and also noted there are new laws coming down that could complicate biking and motorized biking.
“My hopes are high, but I’ll believe it when I see it,” she said. “… Are there going to be age requirements when you take out a bike? I know there are gonna be pinch points in any city. I hope in our city, they’ll be handled well.”
You can get the city’s bike share app and learn how to use it at longbeachbikeshare.com.