Street Smart : City Smart / How to thrive in the urban environment of Southern California : Pedaling to the Fore in Bike Commuting

The place known for its love affair with the car is about to lead the nation by building a first-of-its-kind transportation facility--for bike commuters.

When the Long Beach Commuter Bike Station opens next year near the Blue Line, commuters arriving by bus or train will be able to doff their suits for spandex, rent a bike for $1 a day and ride the rest of the way to work.

For those pedaling in on their own bikes, the station will offer valet parking--you leave your bike with an attendant. Also available will be changing rooms, bike repair and perhaps a cappuccino bar.

The $230,000 experiment is aimed at promoting biking to public transit.

While similar bike stations have been in use for years in Europe and Japan, “this is a first in the United States,” said Michael Replogle, a transportation expert with the Environmental Defense Fund.

If the station is successful, similar facilities could be built along bus and rail lines throughout the county, planners say.

But it’s not going to be easy peddling bike commuting to Southern Californians--where only about 1% of commuters ride two-wheelers to work.

Los Angeles did not even make Bicycling magazine’s new list of the 10 best cities for cycling in North America.

Toronto was first, followed by Portland, Ore., which makes available about 300 yellow bikes throughout the city for free public use.

Portland also recently opened its downtown “Bike Central,” where commuters can park their bikes, then shower and change clothes at an adjoining health club. But Bike Central is not at a transit center, as the planned Long Beach facility is.

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Scott Martin, senior editor of Bicycling magazine, described Los Angeles as “an up and coming place,” thanks in part to bike-riding Mayor Richard Riordan.

Even so, planners say more can be done to promote bike commuting.

“Transportation experts and bike advocates are realizing that if you combine cycling with other forms of transportation . . . it increases the range that people can commute,” Martin said.

“You can include people who are daunted by the idea of riding their bike 10 or 20 miles to work. Now they can maybe ride five miles and take the bus or train.”

Ironically, while the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is helping to fund the bike station with federal transit dollars, the same agency allows only folding bicycles aboard its trains during rush hour. MTA buses are not equipped with bike racks either.

Transit officials say that trains are too crowded during rush hour for bicycles and that there hasn’t been a demand for bikes racks on buses or bikes on trains during rush hour.

But Michelle Mowery, Los Angeles city bicycle coordinator, said the MTA cannot say how many bicyclists would use bike racks unless it puts racks on all of its buses.

The MTA has issued about 300 permits for cyclists to take their bikes aboard trains in off-peak hours.

Bike lockers have been installed along MTA rail lines, but they are little used. Unguarded lockers, bicyclists complain, are subject to theft.

The Long Beach bike station will feature parking for 150 bikes in a covered, staffed facility. The station, scheduled to open in March, will offer bike storage for $1 a day, which includes a token good for a one-way ride on the Blue Line trolley to Los Angeles.

Bike rentals will be available to commuters for $1 a day, and for tourists and recreational riders at a higher rate.

John Case, a 47-year-old Long Beach entrepreneur, pushed for the station after seeing similar facilities in Europe. He said he saw his neighbors who live only a few blocks from the Blue Line drive to the station.

Simon can be e-mailed at: richard.simon@latimes.com