Politics & Government

Berkeley Firm's Bike Lockers Win Award

Steven Grover and his BikeLink electronic bicycle lockers from Berkeley-based eLock Technologies, now widely used at BART stations and elsewhere, have been honored with an "Award of Merit" from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

In June 2004, Steven Grover – head of Berkeley-based eLock Technologies – installed what was then a revolutionary bike parking system at the El Cerrito Plaza BART station.

Known as BikeLink, it allows bicycles to be parked in secure metal cages, or eLockers, with the fee set according to how long the bike is parked, like cars at parking meters. Previously, those who wanted to use bike lockers at BART stations had to rent them for an extended period of three months or a year.

BikeLink caught on and now eLockers, which are accessed with a prepaid electronic card, can be found at more 100 locations around the Bay Area and beyond.

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On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) honored Grover and BikeLink with an Award of Merit.

"Steven Grover is the Steve Jobs of bicycle parking," said Laura Timothy, BART’s manager of Access and Accessible Service. She was quoted in an MTC newsletter.

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"Steven revolutionized the concept of bike lockers from a single-user box to a shared resource for multiple users," Timothy said.

An MTC news release said, "Steven Grover’s ingenuity revitalized bicycle parking at BART stations with a safer, better design that allows for sharing of bike lockers and uses an electronic BikeLink card for payment of rental fees. BikeLink has helped thousands of bicyclists connect the first and last miles of their transit commutes."

The MTC also presented awards to several other individuals and programs, including an Award of Merit for another parking-related program, SFpark, which allows drivers to receive real-time information on available parking via the SFpark website or a mobile app.

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