In perhaps another sign of “reopening” in the Park City area, the county’s bike share program has returned for another season. The 2020 program comes with improvements and measures for sanitation.
The county’s Regional Transportation Manager Caroline Rodriguez said the e-bike program started as of Monday. It has 200 bikes available and will have 19 stations. She said the last will be at the Jeremy Park n Ride, when that re-opens.
She said that, in response to the glitches and problems last year, the county hired a local project manager, who has worked with the vendors over the winter to make improvements.
“In prior years, it seems that the bikes weren’t being maintained to our standards as we thought they were. There’s a lot of disorganization. Parts weren’t arriving, prior to the pandemic, of course. All of our parts came in this season. Everything is organized in the warehouse. We’re confident all of the bikes are ready to roll today, the day we open. She’s put in a lot of administrative checks and balances.”
The operators are sanitizing the bikes on a regular basis. But they’re asking the public to take precautions also.
“We’re asking people to be responsible, make sure you’re sanitizing your own hands before and after. In some of the station locations, obviously, like the Transit Center, there’s a sink available to wash your hands with soap. In addition, the teams are out sanitizing every bike every day, as well as the kiosks, and any touchpoint on the kiosks.”
She said they won’t be cleaning the bikes between every single use.
“But the team is out at the stations, pretty much all day every day. So every time they come in contact with a bike it will be sanitized. So most bikes will be sanitized multiple times a day. But there’s one big sanitation daily, and then on-the-ground maintenance will include a sanitation as well.”
Rodriguez said they considered placing hand sanitizer at every station, but ultimately realized they won’t last long there.
You can register for the program at “summitbikeshare.com” An annual pass for local residents and employees, will cost $90.
They’re also offering a free one-month pass to local workers who were on the ground during the coronavirus outbreak.
“We’re talking, of course, health-care workers. But also the grocery workers, the day-care providers that remained open during the pandemic, anyone who was serving our community during that time, we’d love to offer you a free one-month pass. And to take us up on that offer, you just need to e-mail me directly, at “crodriguezatsummicounty.org.”
She had further details on the per-ride rate and other protocols for using the bikes.
“There’s a single-ride pass, and that’s $3 for 30 minutes. Every minute over 30 minutes is 15 cents a minute. When you have an annual pass, your rides are 45 minutes long before you need to dock. For example, if you were a local and you have that local pass, and you want to keep the bike for more than 45 minutes, all you need to do is check it in at a station, dock it for a minute, and then pull it back out. And that’s to prevent people from keeping the bike to themselves all day.”
Summit County Transportation Manager Caroline Rodriguez, who added that you can find the Summit Bike Share app on the app store.
