With the sponsorship and cooperation of The Unity Council, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District and the city of Oakland, Alameda Bicycle opened the Fruitvale Bike Station. It is located just to the left of the Fruitvale Plaza entrance when approaching from the BART station.

According to Sam Wilson of Alameda Bicycle, Fruitvale Bike Station offers a secure, safe and supervised location to park your bike for free. It is also a full repair station and retail facility. The station is an improvement over the previous bike lockers

"The bike lockers at Fruitvale were trouble," Wilson said.

"There were only 30 of them. The waiting list was over a year long. As an Alameda resident you couldn't try commuting with your bike."

Wilson said Fruitvale had a reputation for theft. Even when a bike was locked on the rack, thieves would strip it of handlebars, seat, brakes and reflectors. The Fruitvale Bike Station is changing that reputation.

"This is free, safe parking," Wilson said." The message to thieves is Fruitvale BART isn't easy pickings anymore."

According to Wilson, offering maintenance and repair was just an obvious extension of having someone on duty watching the bikes. Repairs can be performed while owners are at work. Rates are the same as those charged at Alameda Bicycle.

The Fruitvale Bike Station is open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Reserve a space at www.bartbikes.com.