Boulder’s bicycle sharing program is transitioning to incorporate e-bikes and e-scooters on a trial basis, and the city may end its decade-long partnership with Boulder Bike Share.
Before year’s end, Boulder will issue a request for proposals to solicit bids from various companies with hopes of launching the new “shared micromobility program” in the spring. The process will be open-ended and could result in a new private partner operating the program and providing bikes, scooters and other equipment and dismantling the existing platform or a new company providing equipment while maintaining Boulder Bike Share as the operator.
“These are just options right now,” Boulder Senior Transportation Planner David “DK” Kemp said of the scenarios presented Tuesday in a Boulder City Council study session.
He said the bidding process will guide the path forward.
“We’re not shaping the RFP to cater to each one of those different scenarios,” he said.
The city currently contracts with Boulder Bike Share, a local nonprofit that uses the Boulder B-Cycle platform to provide a bike sharing service that began in 2011 largely as a means of reducing vehicular travel and emissions.
The Boulder B-Cycle website says it allows a large number of people to share a small number of bikes through short station-to-station bike trips. It has a fleet of 300 human-powered bikes and 45 docking stations, according to a staff memo.
The transition to a shared program is inspired by new information from Boulder Bike Share’s strategic planning process as well as changes in regulations that allow for e-bikes and e-scooters. Those involved with the strategic planning process recommended partnering with a private company for equipment while maintaining Boulder Bike Share as the operator. City staff members have made no formal recommendation.
Initially, the Boulder B-Cycle program relied on annual and corporate sponsorships, but that funding model proved unsustainable. In 2019, the city spent $80,000 to subsidize the program when Kaiser Permanente — its primary sponsor — backed out. Over the course of that year, Boulder spent $145,000 on the program, or $1.45 per ride, and it spent $117,000 in 2020.
Due to coronavirus-related budget constraints, the city no longer can afford to subsidize the program to the extent it had been. It budgeted about $50,000 for it in 2021.
“We simply cannot sustain the same amount of funding that we’ve done in recent years,” Kemp said.
E-bikes and e-scooters
Boulder’s Transportation Advisory Board has been part of the push for the program’s evolution to include e-bikes and e-scooters. The City Council in September approved a pilot program that allows for e-scooters, but it’s reserved the right to pull the plug on the program if accidents increase.
Mayor Sam Weaver, Mayor Pro Tem Bob Yates and a few other council members have voiced concerns about e-scooters and maintained their belief that the city should focus on e-bikes in its new program. Weaver said his e-bike has changed his commuting habits, and Yates told the council of a recent trip to New York City in which he witnessed e-bikes’ popularity firsthand.
“I would urge us as we put together this RFP to have a big emphasis on e-bike rental,” Yates said. “This is the way of the future.”
Other concerns
Some wondered how much say the city would have if it opts to use a private entity to operate the new program. To that end, Council Member Junie Joseph said she hoped Boulder would be able to determine where to place bikes and scooters and that the city would prioritize underserved areas and ensure equity.
Kemp confirmed the city would continue to have purview, though he noted it is “somewhat organic in that demand changes (and) locations shift.”
He later acknowledged Boulder Bike Share has an institutional knowledge, and the nonprofit has developed relationships in the community and works well with city staff.
“I think maintaining their presence as the operator would be helpful,” he said.
The council agreed, and many members thanked Boulder Bike Share for supporting the city for the past decade. However, several said the bidding process should make it clear that the city is open to options and not set on continuing to partner with Boulder Bike Share moving forward.
“We want to see what’s out there and what meets the needs of the city,” Council Member Aaron Brockett said. “The reality is we don’t really have the money available for the same level of subsidies we’ve been putting in.”
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