Category: Bike Share Page 1 of 2

The Council will discuss a new bike share/scooter program, and a pilot scooter program. Since the original launch of mBike in 2016, Zagster has introduced a new bike share service model, Pace. Pace uses “lock-to” technology that allows the bike share to operate as a dockless, as opposed to our current station-based, system. These lock-to vehicles avoid the pitfalls of free-floating dockless systems by requiring users to lock their bicycles to a Pace or public bike rack at the end of their ride.

By allowing riders to use public racks as well as official stations, the reach of the bike share system is greatly extended, and users have greater flexibility in where they end their trips. In addition to a new bike share system, the City also has the option to introduce electric scooters into our mix of shared mobility devices. See Attachment 2 for a sample image of the type of scooters proposed.

Several vendors made proposals to the University and, to a lesser extent, the City, to bring scooters to the community. These operators typically provide scooters at no cost and collect all rider revenue. Other city and university communities that have introduced scooters have seen high ridership numbers due to the popularity of these devices for short trips.

Two new mBike bike sharing stations were recently installed in the City!

The first new location is near College Park Woods at the Courtyards Apartments just off of Metzerott Rd! The mBike station is located in the parking lot between apartment buildings.

The other new mBike station is located at the corner of Berwyn House Road and Baltimore Ave, in front of the new CVS Pharmacy (CVS is
planning to open in mid-July.)

Anyone is eligible to sign up for mBike, and we’re offering a limited-time discount to celebrate our new stations: use promo code “TerpBikes” during registration to receive 50% off annual membership – that’s $32.50 in savings!. Visit www.zagster.com/mbike for more information.

College Park Bikeshare is going to be launched tomorrow. I took these pictures at the Lackawanna / 53rd ave location, just at the entrance of Greenbelt Metro path in north College Park. This station will be one of the 14 stations in the city. There will be another location on Rhode Island Avenue near the MoM/REI shopping complex. Please check http://zagster.com/mbike for more information.

At next week’s Council meeting, the City Council will discuss an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University detailing the bikeshare project in College Park.

In 2013, the Mayor and Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and University with respect to division of bikeshare system rights and responsibilities between the parties. This MOU was not signed, due to the fact that a contract with Capital Bikeshare was not reached. Since that time, the City and University issued an RFP for a bikeshare system, and Zagster submitted the winning bid. The number of stations, and a few other items have changed since the original MOU was approved.

The Parties agree that this MOU applies to the seven (7) bikeshare station locations that the University will install and the seven (7) bikeshare station locations that the City will install, together with 125 associated bicycles and maintenance and operations services. Two stations will be located in north College Park – one at the end of Lackawanna Street near the Metro, and the other at the MoM/REI shopping complex.

The City and the University have jointly selected a contractor, Zagster, Inc. (https://youtu.be/bljp1Lfy1YM ) to install the Initial Launch, and maintain the said bikeshare station locations and bicycles for a term of three years, together with any additional Locations and additional Bicycles included during that period. The City and the University of Maryland will each pay one-half of the one-time Fee of $650,500.00 for the Initial Launch, to include the fourteen (14) station set-up and parking spaces installation for $65,500.00, and 125 initial bicycles at a price of $585,000.00.

Finally, College Park is about to get BikeShare. Next week, the Council will be approving the program with 125 bikes at 14 stations having 250 docks.

There is a strong possibility that north College Park will be getting two stations, possibly one at the MoM/REI shopping plaza and another at west of Greenbelt Metro station.

Here is a map of 10 bike share stations we were thinking back in 2013. We’re now thinking to have 14 stations – which means we can expand the system to north College Park.

Here is a picture I took of a bike that was demonstrated at last night’s Council worksession.

Here is a YouTube video on a similar bike share program in Cleveland. They use Zagster, the same vendor we’ll be ordering bikes from.

I’ll keep you posted as the project moves forward.

Late last year, the City awarded a contract to a firm to build a Bike Share program in College Park. However, recently the firm became bankrupt causing the City looking for a new contractor.

The City and the University has been jointly working to establish a bikeshare system. Both parties received a Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) grant in 2012 totaling $350,000 which can be used to pay for up to 80% of the system equipment costs.

At the time the grant was awarded, it was the intent of the City and University to join the Capital Bikeshare System (CaBi). Bicycles and stations were to be sourced from the Public Bike Share Corporation (PBSC) of Montreal, Canada, while the operations side of CaBi would be handled by Alta Bicycle Share (Alta), headquartered in Portland, Oregon. The MDOT grant was awarded as a sole source contract to both entities using federal funds.

However, PBSC ceased to exist when all of its assets were sold to the highest bidder during their bankruptcy liquidation process earlier this year. The new owner has named the company PBSC Urban Solutions (PBSCUS) and proposed changes to their station components that will result in incompatibilities with existing CaBi equipment.

Alta has reviewed the history of their relationship with PBSC and the potential for a successful long term relationship with PBSCUS. They determined that it is in their best interest to move to a new supplier and have selected the 8D Company to be their new bikeshare system partner.

Alta has indicated they intend to move away from purchasing PBSC equipment for the CaBi system.

CaBi member jurisdictions (DC, Arlington and Montgomery Counties, and the City of Alexandria) are currently developing a strategy to address this situation. Their plan will likely involve an extended transitional phase from PBSC to 80 equipment. The earliest availability of this new equipment is not expected until the first half of 2015.

In order to be released from the existing grant terms and receive the funds, the State has informed the City and University that it will be necessary to select a vendor through a competitive bid. Consequently, City Planning Department staff have been working closely with University Department of Transportation Services staff to draft a RFP. Staff have contacted State officials to ensure that the resulting RFP will meet the requirements of both MOOT and the original source of the funds, the Federal Highway Administration.

It should also be noted that worldwide bikeshare usage has expanded and significantly evolved in just the last two years. The RFP process presents a timely opportunity to examine the innovations offered by new participants in this industry. For example, one of several new station less bikeshare systems could potentially better serve our campus environment & include more areas of the City. We look forward to reviewing all proposals to find a bikeshare system that provides the best match of cost, features, expandability and suitability to our City’s needs and then bringing forward a recommendation to the City Council.

Capital Bike Share

Late last year, the College Park City Council authorized staff to work on an award of about $376,000 with the bikeshare company called Alta Bicycle Share. Alta manages many bike share programs in the country, including New York , Chicago and Washington D.C.

Unfortunately, Public Bike Systems Company (PBSC), the supplier of the bikes that Alta uses in its systems went into bankruptcy. This happened soon after the Council authorized our staff to work with Alta on the contract. Alta has been working to find ways to secure supplies of bikes that it plans to use in City’s bike share program.

The bankruptcy incident may have put some uncertainty about the program, but we think a solution will be found soon. I will keep you posted as I find more.