Pacific Beach will be included in the initial rollout of more than 100 stations in the short-term citywide bike-share rental program, now scheduled for an Oct. 30 launch in downtown San Diego and environs.
But where exactly those locations will be in Pacific Beach has yet to be worked out.
A total of 19 bike stations were originally proposed for PB in DecoBike San Diego’s bike-share program. They are: Turquoise Street and La Jolla Mesa Drive; Turquoise Street and Cass Street; La Jolla Boulevard and Tourmaline Street; Loring Street and Cass Street; Cass Street and Chalcedony Street; Missouri Street and Mission Boulevard; Cass Street and Felspar Street; Garnet Avenue and Ocean Boulevard; Bayard Street and Garnet Avenue; Cass Street and Garnet Avenue; Fanuel Street and Garnet Avenue; Ingraham Street and Garnet Avenue; Garnet Avenue and Kendall Street; Morrell Street and Garnet Avenue; Grand Avenue and Bayard Street; Grand Avenue and Mission Boulevard; Reed Avenue and Oliver Court; Pacific Beach Drive and Mission Boulevard; and Pacific Beach Drive and Olney Street.?
Not all those 19 proposed PB locations were initially acceptable to community planers, however. In July, the Pacific Beach Planning Group (PBPG) unanimously endorsed sending a letter to city officials and DecoBike to ask that the bike-share program not be implemented in PB until issues with some proposed locations are vetted and resolved.
?Sara Berns, executive director of Discover Pacific Beach, the community’s Business Improvement District (BID), said concerned parties are working through the bike share’s site-vetting process.
“We have been working with the PB Planning Group, PB Town Council, city of San Diego and DecoBike to come up with an implementation of the bike-share program in Pacific Beach which will be most beneficial to our community,” Berns said. “Bike share is a great alternative transportation option and we look forward to working with the city to include the beach area in this program. However, understanding the concerns of our small-business community, bike shops and rentals [need to be] included in that, as well as community parking and traffic needs.”
In a recent newsletter, District 2 City Councilman Ed Harris said he’s fielded some concerns about the bike-share program.
“While I’m excited about the bike-sharing program DecoBike coming to San Diego, I am concerned that some community groups feel disenfranchised by the bike-station location-selection process due to a lack of effective communication between the stakeholders,” he said. “I am encouraged to know, however, that DecoBike is meeting with District 2 community groups to explain the rationale behind each proposed bike-station location. I support what the residents of District 2 want and am optimistic DecoBike will give thoughtful consideration to the community’s feedback.”
 PBPG chairman Brian Curry said the community and DecoBike are working hard to reach an accommodation on proposed bikeshare sites.
“After a frustrating period and lack of communication from DeccoBikes, we have had several meetings with their community outreach representative and they have listened to our concerns about various proposed locations,” Curry said. “We are very close to finalizing locations that should be much more acceptable to the public.”
Curry said DeccoBikes intends to present its final recommendations at the plan group’s traffic and parking subcommittee on Thursday, September 18 at 5 p.m. at Discover PB office, 1503 Garnet Ave.
“I would encourage the public to attend should they want to provide final input,” Curry said.
 DecoBike has released a map of bikeshare-station locations that will be installed for their launch this fall on its website at DecoBikeSanDiego.com. The map includes 113 sites that have been approved to date. 
DecoBike said it is continuing to work with property owners and the community on remaining sites that will complete the network of 180 bike-sharing stations.
“This is an important milestone for bike sharing in San Diego,” said David Silverman, DecoBike San Diego’s executive representative. “We anticipate confirming all sites in the network within the next few weeks and will begin installing stations later this month.”
In 2013, DecoBike signed a 10-year contract with the city to create a citywide network of 180 bike-share stations for short-term rentals.
DecoBike stations will be located in communities from Pacific Beach to San Ysidro, providing a robust network that will give the public a viable and environmentally friendly transportation choice. The convenience of being able to rent a bike at one location and drop it off at another encourages bicycling as a mode of travel rather than relying on cars.
“Whether it’s commuting to work, running errands or simply enjoying a nice bike ride for exercise, automated bike-sharing programs fulfill all those needs in a very efficient manner,” said Silverman. “It’s convenient, easy to use and it’s ‘green’ transportation at its best.”