Bicyclists

With over 100 miles of bikeways, mild weather and few hills, Santa Monica is a great place to ride a bike. Santa Monica is a silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists. The City’s Bike Action Plan calls for both programs and facilities, and includes a bold 20-year vision for getting more people to use bicycles for transportation. About 6% of resident trips are made by bike, many employees commute to Santa Monica by bike, and many visitors come here specifically because they do not need a car to enjoy everything Santa Monica has to offer. 

Bicycle resources are available throughout the City. These include short-term parking, long-term parking, repair facilities, shops, secure parking, commuter lockers and showers, transit connections, bike rental and loan programs, and Santa Monica’s first—and the nation’s largest—full-service Bike Center, which offers all of these in one location downtown.

Bike Map

The Santa Monica bike map includes bikeways, Breeze bike share stations, safety information, and more. Not sure how to get from point A to B? Google Maps offers bike directions.

Bike Event Calendar

Follow us on social media for the latest! Planning and Community Development Department’s Facebook page. 
Another good resource for upcoming events is the Santa Monica Spoke event calendar. A local chapter of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, SM Spoke is dedicated to improving biking in the City of Santa Monica.

Safety

It's important to follow the rules of the road and be predictable while biking. Review these tips before you ride and if you're interested in more instruction, check out the classes offered by the Bike Center.

Bike Counter

The City captures information about bicycle ridership through our biennial intersection counts and on the ground sensors. The first real time bicycle counter was installed right outside City Hall in December 2016. To get the latest information go to the bike counter dashboard

Bike Parking

Public bike racks for locking up your bike are available all over town, including at each Expo station. To request a bike rack, please email transportation.planning@smgov.net.

Bike lockers are located at the 17th Street/SMC and 26th Street/Bergamot E stations. Contact Metro's Bike Locker Program to learn more and request a locker. For long term parking near the Downtown Santa Monica Station, check out the Santa Monica Bike Center.

Bike Share

Lyft offers 500 ebikes. Rates begin at $1 to unlock and $0.34/minute.  Locate them inside the Lyft app. 

Bike Center

The Santa Monica Bike Center offers 350 secure bicycle parking spaces, bike rental, repair, and two hours free valet bike parking. Commuter members have access to restrooms, showers and lockers. The Bike Center also encourages bicycling through a free commuter bike program, making bicycles available for a limited time to new bike commuters, a Bikes@Work program, classes and events.

Bikes@Work

City of Santa Monica staff have access to bikes for use during the week, even if they are not bicycle commuters. The City created a Bikes@Work program for its own employees to save money and reduce air pollution by using specially branded bikes for local trips. Each bike is fully equipped with safety gear, and an odometer to monitor usage and carbon savings. The Bike Center offers a similar program to all members, and, for a fee, will provide and maintain a Bikes@Work fleet for other employers.

Pedicabs

Pedicabs, also known as bicycle rickshaws, are a fun way to travel around Santa Monica. They can often be found in the Downtown and beach areas. To apply to operate a pedicab in Santa Monica, click here.