Just about everyone’s heard of “e-mail” and “e-commerce.” Walnut Creek is abuzz over “e-lockers.” That’s the name for the electronically controlled bicycle lockers recently installed in front of City Hall.
Each locker has an electronic BikeLink card reader; a user swipes the BikeLink card in the reader to open the locker. Once the locker is shut, it will only unlock with the same card used when the bike was parked. The hourly use fee is automatically deducted from the card; in Walnut Creek, the hourly fee is five cents. “Where else can you park for only five cents an hour?” quipped Mayor Gary Skrel at the e-Locker unveiling.
Because eLockers offer secure storage, they have proven popular, according to 511 Contra Costa. As a result, each eLocker serves seven times the users as conventional bike lockers.
While the eLockers at City Hall are the first to be installed by a Central Contra Costa city, they are part of a growing BikeLink system that extends from Seattle to Los Angeles. In Contra Costa, there are eLockers at the AAA building in Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill BART, Hercules Park and Ride Lot, Richmond City Hall, Richmond BART, El Cerrito City Hall, El Cerrito Community Center, and El Cerrito BART. For eLocker locations, or to buy a BikeLink card, go to www.bikelink.org.
The eLockers at City Hall are part of Walnut Creek’s effort to support alternative modes of transportation. They are made possible through a partnership with 511 Contra Costa, the local commute alternatives program, and funded by the Contra Costa Transportation Authority’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvement projects and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Performing Arts.
Tickets: 925-943-SHOW (7469)
01/12/10: Bob Schieffer Lesher Speaker Series
01/28 – 02/27: The Syringa Tree Center REPertory Company
01/21 – 02/07: A Number Center REPertory Company
01/22 – 01/23: Winter Program Company C Contemporary Ballet
01/24 – 01/26: Freedom Rings California Symphony
01/16: The 31st Annual Shellie Awards Shellie Committee
01/26: Rethinking Wellness: Emotional Wellness, Letting Go Health Medicine Forum
01/29 – 01/31: Gilbert & Sullivan’s Patience Lamplighters Music Theatre
01/29 – 01/30: The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fair(l)y (Stupid) Tales
Arts Education
02/05 – 2/06: Winter Program Smuin Ballet
02/12 – 02/28: Curtains Diablo Theatre Company
Walnut Creek Farmers Market
Every Sunday, 8 AM to 1 PM on Civic Dr. by Civic Park.
Until 01/18, 11 am – 10 pm, Walnut Creek on Ice, Historic Civic Park. Info: (925)935.SNOW (7669), www.iceskatewalnutcreek.com
01/31, Sunday, 3pm: Sierra Chamber Society presents The Afiara String Quartet
Aleksandra Vrebalov: Pannonia Boundless, Mendelssohn: String Quartet Op.44, No.2, Shostakovich: Piano Quintet Op.57.
Grace Presbyterian Church, 2100 Tice Valley Rd. Tickets and info: 925-930-8880
02/06, Saturday, 12pm – 2pm: Go Red, Shop & Stroll.
Grab your walking shoes and get ready to shop and stroll to help fight heart disease! www.broadwayplaza.com/events.asp