Sonoma County's bike lockers a benefit or boondoggle?

Build it and they will come. Or so they said.

A year after Sonoma County officials spent $105,000 to install 28 stainless-steel bicycle lockers around the Hall of Justice and government center, relatively few people appear to be using them.

From May 2013 to July of this year, the “bike condos,” as some critics are calling them, were used just 325 times - or an average of about a dozen times each - generating a total of $63.50 in fees.

The lukewarm reception came despite staff reports suggesting 2,000 county employees working nearby would be more likely to bike to work if they had secure parking.

“I’ve never seen a bicycle in them,” said Karen Thompson, a deputy public defender who locks her bike in her office on the days she rides. “I have seen someone sit on them.”

County officials said the BikeLink lockers aren’t designed to turn a profit or even pay for themselves. They are meant to encourage county employees and visitors to get out of their cars, reducing emissions.

Also, no county money was spent on them, said BC Capps, the county’s energy and sustainability coordinator. They were funded by grants from two regional transportation agencies, he said.

“Certainly, the intent is not for them to generate revenue,” Capps said. “The intent is to provide a valuable service for county employees and members of the public visiting the county campus.”

In fact, the county doesn’t get a share of locker fees. The money goes straight to the company that built and installed them, eLock Technologies of Berkeley, which has put up lockers across the Bay Area including at the Santa Rosa Junior College campus.

Among other things, the fees pay for card programming and distribution, technical support and a free ride home if the locker malfunctions, according to the company website.

However, the county is obligated to pay eLock about $2,200 a year for maintenance through 2023.

The county’s spokesman, Peter Rumble, said the numbers show interest in the lockers. He said they are important in part to send a message that the county supports alternative ways of commuting.

“It’s unfair to say they are unpopular,” Rumble said. “They do get used.”

Among the devotees is Christine Culver, an aide to Supervisor Shirlee Zane who uses the lockers at least three times a week. She said their popularity should increase as people see their value.

“I think the lockers are great,” said Culver, a former head of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition. “What I’d like to see is to have more of them throughout the county.”

But critics said they’ve caught a whiff of a boondoggle.

“It’s just another example of wasteful government,” said Santa Rosa defense attorney Richard Scott, who walked by a row of empty lockers outside the jail. “My hope is they can recoup some of the cost by cutting them up in pieces and placing them over the potholes out here.”

County supervisors approved the lockers last year with support from the bicycle coalition.

The units initially were destined for Santa Rosa, but city officials passed on them when they had trouble finding a good location.

That’s when the county stepped in. They took the lockers, installing them in clusters in three spots: outside the planning department, near the county clerk’s office and between the courthouse and the jail.

The rectangular boxes stand about 4 feet high and have perforated sides and plastic roofs. Bikes roll in through a locking door.

Users pay 5 cents an hour with a prepaid electronic card that can be purchased online or at the junior college bookstore. The lockers don’t accept coins or other forms of payment. County employees get up to 20 hours for free.

In the first 15 months ending in July, Capps said the 28 units were rented for a combined 1,278 hours. The average rental time was about four hours.

He said they appear to be heavily used by a small number of people. The county is considering moving some units elsewhere to increase traffic.

But he conceded the payment system might be a barrier for one-time users. Outside the jail, for instance, bikes were jammed into a traditional bike rack beside the vacant lockers.

Thompson said people coming to the Hall of Justice might not be ready with a prepaid card.

“They are pretty cool,” she said. “But it’s not like you can come and put a nickel in the machine.”

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@ppayne.