This was the first year Summit County ran the Snyderville Basin bike share program in-house.
That had always been the plan, but county engineer Steve Dennis said the transition was more difficult after the county’s old bike share contractor, Bewegen Technologies, announced it was closing up shop.
The county launched bike share June 30, instead of late April like it did last year. Dennis said the bike share program is on track for 8,300 rides total this year, compared to over 20,000 in 2022.
“So a pretty significant hit. We didn't get the Memorial Day weekend rush; we didn't get the rides throughout May and most of June,” Dennis said. “But it was a good learning curve for us.”
And the county wants to learn more about what worked and what didn’t from riders with an end-of-season survey.
The feedback will help shape how the bike share program changes under the county’s stewardship. Dennis said that could include different membership models, like a weekends-only pass, and new safety features like helmets and better lights.
The county has applied for a grant funded by a county sales tax to provide helmets, and it’s also seeking a grant from the Utah Office of Tourism to help improve the program’s branding and marketing.
Other changes on the horizon, two new docking stations: one at Lincoln Station Apartments in Kimball Junction and the other at Park City Hospital.
Intermountain Health is a Summit Bike Share sponsor that had been asking for a docking station.
“We also think it'll create some better connection—because we do have a location already out there at U.S. Ski and Snowboard—to kind of create the opportunity for some back and forth between those two stations,” Dennis said.
He encouraged people to let the county know where they’d like to see other stations on the end-of-season survey too.
All the docking stations will close Thursday, Oct. 25.
Individual stations are already closed, including locations at U.S. Ski and Snowboard, the Olympic Plaza, north City Park and one of the docks in upper Canyons Village.
