A cyclist does not have to carry along their personal locks anymore, can now park their bikes securely with just a swipe of a Clipper card and it’s free of charge for them.
Bikeep, the company building smart and secure bike racks, announced today the first pilot station installation for BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to reduce bike theft in their stations. The first Bikeep installation for BART is now installed at 16th Street Station in San Francisco and available to use for everyone owning a Clipper card.
“The newer pattern … is disturbing. U-locks are not impregnable; you can get through them, and unfortunately, people have learned how to do that,” says Steve Beroldo, Manager Access Programs at BART. Kristjan Lind, Chief Executive Officer, Bikeep answers “Our smart racks have industrial-grade steel bars, loudspeaker alarm, distress signal forwarding to local security and surveillance camera – so far out of 1 million parking sessions we haven’t had a single bike theft incident. “
BART requires online registration from cyclists to use Bikeep stations. “As people are abandoning their bikes, BART is liable to get in touch with the owner before removing the bike from the station”, said Mr. Lind. “Bike parking will be free for all users and continuous parking is limited for 24 hours.” Registration link can be found on BART website.
BART has already decided to install the Bikeep system to their Pleasant Hill station as well and is currently considering new sites. Bikeep is expanding its smart bike rack systems across the Bay Area with installations to local retailers and real estate developers/managers.
