LOGAN CITY AND UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCE LAUNCH OF DOCKLESS BIKESHARE PROGRAM
LOGAN, UT — Logan City and Utah State University (USU) are launching a bike-share program. The initiative is a collaboration between Logan City, USU, and Spin, a leading bike-share company that offers a fleet of orange-colored smart-bikes. Each bike is equipped with a basket, bike lights, integrated locking system, and GPS tracking device that can be used to locate the bikes. Participants use the Spin app to locate and unlock a bike by scanning the QR code on the back of the bike. To end a ride, users simply park the bike in a responsible location, such as near a bike rack, and pull the lever on the bike down.
"Spin is all about bringing convenient, affordable and eco-friendly transportation options to campuses and cities across America,” said Derrick Ko, co-founder and CEO of Spin. “We’re excited to partner with Utah State University and the surrounding city of Logan to make biking a more accessible way to get around. Logan has a solid bike infrastructure in place, and we want to encourage more people — whether it’s students, locals or visitors — to get on bikes and take advantage of that.”
The Spin bike-share program rolled out slowly beginning March 22 when Spin placed 150 bikes on USU campus, and the program will continue to grow in Logan City over the next several weeks. In the end, there will be 200-250 bikes throughout Logan City and the USU campus. During the pilot phase, Spin will track bike usage and preferred parking areas to identify where students and residents will benefit most from the service. There will also be bikes placed at some of the multi-use trail systems within Logan.
Margaret McCarthy, Program Coordinator for Aggie Blue Bikes on USU Campus is really excited for the launch of Spin bike share. “This program will be great for students who need short term access to bicycles. Spin will provide us with data to help the University determine where future bike racks, trails, and other infrastructure should be placed on campus as we move forward with developing our system of moving folks around on a bicycle.”
This program will also work to support USU’s Aggie Blue Bikes program, a long-term bike rental service for students. McCarthy hopes that students who don’t use a bike for their only source of transportation will use Spin bike share instead and help to alleviate some of the demand that they face for long term bike rentals. McCarthy continues her enthusiasm for the program by saying “Overall we are getting more butts on bikes here at USU and in Logan and that is going to be awesome.”
Logan City Mayor Holly Daines is also looking forward to the launch of bike share in Logan. “Not everyone in Logan owns a bicycle, but now everyone who lives in or visits Logan has the opportunity to explore Logan by bicycle,” adding that she “hopes residents and visitors alike will use Spin bike share to try out our bike routes, lanes, and shared use trails and experience Logan in a new way.”
The bikes are meant for use by the public anywhere in Logan City or on the USU campus and are generally designed for short term use. Participants are encouraged to pay attention to parking the bike in preferred locations such as near a bike rack or on a right of way where it does not block pedestrian traffic. Participants are strongly encouraged to bring their own helmet to wear while using Spin bikes.
USU and Logan City began discussions about bringing a bike share program to Campus and the City more than two years ago. While many systems were looked at over that time, both entities settled on using Spin and their dockless system because it requires no public investment in the infrastructure to run the program. Spin takes care of everything including purchasing the bikes, maintenance, balancing, etc.
Spin bikes are affordable for all residents in Logan at $1 for a 30-minute ride, or they can purchase Spin Unlimited for unlimited 30-minute rides. The cost for Spin Unlimited is $29 for one month, $49 for three months, or $99 for a year. At Utah State University, if riders sign up using an .edu email address, they’ll receive 50 percent off city pricing. A 30-minute ride will cost $0.50, and unlimited 30-minute rides through Spin Unlimited will be $14 for one month, $29 for three months and $49 for one year.
To access the bikes, participants will need to download the Spin app from either the Apple Store or Google Play, register an account, and then scan the bike’s respective QR code to unlock it.
An official “launch ride” will take place on April 11th at 4pm. Residents and students who would like to test Spin bikes free of charge can meet on the Shared use path across the street from the Beaver Mountain Offices. From there, we will take a nearly three mile loop that highlights some of Logan City’s new shared use paths and takes us onto the USU campus.
More information about the launch will be available at http://spin.loganutah.org in the coming days.
