Editors’ note: Sources have chosen to stay anonymous due to safety and privacy reasons. City on a Hill Press is committed to protecting the identities of these individuals.
UC Santa Cruz affiliates make up approximately 80 percent of BCycle ridership in Santa Cruz County. However, the service is coming to a swift end for on-campus bikers.
This past September, UCSC Public Affairs sent an email to students and staff announcing that BCycle is canceling their contract with the university earlier than anticipated. Though a specific removal date was not announced in the email, in a statement to City on a Hill Press, BCycle Santa Cruz clarified the removal is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
BCycle is a subscription-based electric-bike share service that has been present at the UCSC campus since 2023. After the campus signed a five-year contract for BCycle’s debut in Santa Cruz County, students started using the service as a form of transportation on and off campus.
“A lot of people learned to ride a bike on the BCycle. That was their first experience with bikes,” said an anonymous student worker at UCSC’s Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS).
To encourage subscribers in its early days on campus in June 2023, BCycle provided students and staff with an 87 percent discount on their annual membership, reducing the price from $150 per year to $12. However, the student and staff price went up by almost 300 percent to $32.75 starting in 2024.
“BCycle cites regional theft and damage to their bikes and docks as the reason for ending the contract, though the vast majority of these issues have not happened at UC Santa Cruz,” UCSC Public Affairs wrote in an email to students.
Several electric bikes stand in the BCycle dock on Heller Drive, between Kresge College and Science Hill.
Scott Hernandez-Jason, a spokesperson for UCSC, echoed this sentiment in an email to City on a Hill Press.
“To be clear, UC Santa Cruz is not removing BCycle … BCycle has signaled that they intend to continue operating elsewhere in Santa Cruz County, but offered to maintain campus service only in exchange for an increased annual financial guarantee that exceeds both the original agreement and current campus membership demand,” Hernandez-Jason wrote.
Similarly, The BCycle Team attributed their choice to terminate the contract to disagreements with UCSC over funding rather than student behavior.
“Unfortunately, the funding for the UCSC program has not kept pace with the ridership
or cost of operating on UCSC,” The BCycle Team wrote in an email to City on a Hill Press. “The proposed transition is driven by reduced UCSC program funding and increased UCSC program operating cost, not by issues with students.”
Funding for the BCycle program over the 2026-2027 academic year is the core conflict.
“The proposed 2026-2027 funding commitment for the program by UCSC was reduced by more than 50% than 2025-2026. At the same time, UCSC ridership has grown more than 14% annually, while the agreement still requires BCycle to maintain the same level of service,” The BCycle Team continued in their message.
With the abrupt cancellation come many unanswered questions from BCycle users.
“The timing of impacts on BCycle bike availability and UCSC-subsidized memberships provided by BCycle are still unknown. The campus will share additional updates as information becomes available,” Hernandez-Jason wrote.
Biking at UCSC
For many students, BCycle bicycles are a reliable means of transportation, especially because of their widespread availability. Students use them to get around campus or downtown without worrying about storing a bike or pedaling up hills. Now, students who rely on BCycle are reeling from the sudden announcement.
A student presses a button to unlock a BCycle from its dock.
“Especially on campus, [where] so many students use [BCycle] instead of using the buses, this service is so important,” said Sara Arakelyan, a third-year at UCSC and an avid BCycle user of three years. “So now are the buses going to be super full, more than they already are?”
With the BCycle service’s imminent removal, Arakelyan considered purchasing a bicycle, but the rugged campus remains a big obstacle.
“I was thinking about getting a bike, but it wouldn’t really help with being on campus and getting around campus, because I don’t think I can bike up that hill to get on campus,” Arakelyan said.
Electric bikes can ease the difficulty of UCSC’s hills, but with prices ranging up to thousands of dollars, they can be a steep investment for students. TAPS has an already established partnership with four electric bike companies — Dirwin, Lectric, Velotric and Ride1Up — to give students discounts ranging from 15 to 60 percent off certain electric bike models. During Biketober, Santa Cruz County’s annual month-long biking campaign, TAPS is also hosting a free e-bike sweepstake.
On-Campus Resources
Another transportation resource on campus is the Bike Co-op, located on the first floor of the Redwood Buildings. The Bike Co-op is a fully student-run nonprofit organization that helps students with bike repairs and maintenance. It works to provide students with the opportunity to join the local biking community.
“There’s a million different people in every different biking community,” Mansour Brame, a Co-op core member, said. “We’ll help people find a bike. We don’t necessarily have them here, but we’re all knowledgeable mechanics and bike enjoyers.”
The services provided at the Bike Co-op are free. However, they ask for donations ranging from $1 to $10 depending on the service. On its website, the Bike Co-op encourages anyone to come in with their bike and questions.
Although the Bike Co-op serves as an accessible resource, students continue to express inconsistencies in transportation throughout campus.
The UCSC TAPS Bike Shuttle is another alternative for students who don’t want to bike up the formidable hill to get to campus. The shuttles depart from Mission and Olive Streets, near the CVS on Mission Street, then drop students off at the Physical Plant Metro Stop on the lower campus and at the Engineering 2 Circle on the upper campus. The shuttle schedule features seven different departure times, from 7:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m., including a new 8:50 a.m. trip. A bicycle is required to board the shuttle.
“To help get more Slugs up the hill, TAPS has added an extra morning trip to the UCSC Bike Shuttle service during the month of October,” Scott Hernandez-Jason said. “This is a pilot and will run in October, and will be evaluated if it is operationally sustainable based on the impact to other services and sufficient passenger demand.”
October 2026 Pilot Schedule
Departing Times from Mission & Olive Street 7:30 a.m. 8:00 a.m. 8:30 a.m. 8:50 a.m. – new trip 9:00 a.m. 9:20 a.m. – changed from 9:15 because of the new trip 9:30 a.m.
“[The] bike shuttle is an incredible resource that I also had no clue about until the end of my second year. It just was never advertised to me,” said Mansour Brame, one of the full-time staffers at the Bike Co-op.
In addition to the shuttle, TAPS Loop and Santa Cruz Metro buses also have bike racks, which have space to hold up to three bikes.
Slug Bike Life, created by TAPS, continuously hosts events meant to support the biking community, including free bike repairs and free equipment distribution alongside organizing group rides.
As of publication, TAPS hasn’t shared any additional means of transportation or resources to supplement the loss of BCycle after fall 2026.
“BCycle is one of the few things that’s actually super helpful for students’ experience on campus and now even that’s being taken away,” Sara Arakelyan said. “It feels like UCSC doesn’t want us to succeed.”