LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Lincoln’s bike share program will likely begin this fall with 100 bikes and 17 stations across downtown and its university campuses.
The Lincoln Journal Star (https://bit.ly/2o06QpY ) reports that the program will be slightly more expensive than originally planned because a federal grant’s rules require the city to purchase bikes made with American steel.
The original estimate for the program was $750,000, with 80 percent of the money coming from grants and the remaining amount from local donations. An additional $85,000 is now required after the city discovered the steel requirement.
Lincoln transportation planner Kellee Van Bruggen said the program already had to raise an additional $200,000 in donations to pay for program operations for the next several years.
The city and BCycle, the company who will operate the program, are currently negotiating the details of their contract. The deal is expected to go to City Council soon.
Ben Turner, coordinator of Omaha’s Heartland BCycle program, said the company will provide its latest equipment to Lincoln that includes lighter-weight bikes.
“I rode about 18 miles on the 2.0 bicycle,” Turner said of the new bicycles. “It was a pretty smooth, easy ride.”
The docking stations will give users the option to rent bikes using credit or debit cards, or through a smartphone app.
According to the criteria for the bike program, the 17 stations cannot be located on a federal highway, must be in the public right of way, with enough sidewalk space leftover for accessibility for people with disabilities. Locations must also be able to have adequate sunlight because the stations are solar-powered.
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, https://www.journalstar.com
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