More bicycles!

Arcata’s city council voted unanimously last night to sponsor two more bikeshare stations on Cal Poly Humboldt’s campus.

There are currently eight Tandem Mobility stations scattered around Arcata in places that see a lot of foot traffic, each outfitted with a few heavy-duty commuter bikes complete with a basket. Cyclists can rent a bike for $1.50 for every 30 minutes of riding, though there are discounted yearly memberships. Riders can return the bike to any of the stations.

The city currently pays $72,000 a year for the stations. Cal Poly Humboldt provides $18,000 of that, and the remainder is funded through the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) grant and Bike and Pedestrian Local Transportation funds from the Humboldt County Association of Governments.

The $22,000 for the two new stations, located at Cal Poly Humboldt’s new Hinarr Hu Moulik dorms, will be paid by CPH. (The city is the party responsible for contracting with Tandem Mobility, so even though CPH is the entity kicking in the funds, the contract had to be updated through city council.)

The bikes were rented over 2,500 times last year by 1,618 riders, and city engineer Netra Khatri predicted an even more widespread adoption as time passes.

These stations won’t be the last. Khatri said there are plans to build three more: one in Sunny Brea, one by the Arcata Marsh, and one at the end of 11th Street near Greenview Market. He’s also trying to convince Eureka to build some within their city limits after the Bay Trail is complete, funded by the same AHSC grant — all part of a grand plan to enable people to cycle between the two cities and drop the bikes off as need be.

“It would be really nice to connect with Eureka too once that trail is open,” councilmember Sarah Schaefer said. “I’m really looking forward to that.”

Nitrous ban official

At the last city council meeting two weeks ago, a motion to adopt an ordinance to ban the sale of nitrous oxide passed 5-0, meaning it was on last night’s consent calendar. There was no conversation from the city council or from the public about the ordinance. The city council passed the consent calendar, so it’s official; including today, there are 30 days left until it’ll be illegal to sell nitrous oxide in Arcata, except for medical purposes or if it’s in a food product.