Once Mayor Buckley and his entourage pedaled down Green Street, around Memorial Circle, did a lap around the Market House and stopped in front of the new bike rack, the bike share program went live in Annapolis. Mayor Buckley was joined by County Executive Steve Schuh, Bike AAA Founder Jon Korin, and representatives of Coca Cola and Pace Bike Share to officially get the program started.
Coca Cola Consolidated, the local distributor here in Annapolis has entered into a three year agreement with the City of Annapolis to fund the cost of the program so there is no cost to the taxpayers. Currently, nine of the proposed ten stations are installed with more planned. Eventually, the Mayor wants to connect the the B&A Trail at the foot of the Naval Academy bridge to the mall along with improvements to and construction of trails along Spa Road to connect Forest Drive.
To rent a bike you need to download the app (Android | iOS) and create an account along with a form of payment. Once done, you can look for bikes in 13 cities across the country. Reserve your bike and when you arrive at the location, simply have the app unlock the bike and go. If you stop, you can lock your bike wherever you normally would lock up a bike and the rental will continue. When you are done, simply return the bike to the nearest public bike rack or Pace bike station.
Pace will inspect the fleet weekly and make any mechanical adjustments as well as reallocate the bikes as needed.
The first time you use the app, you will get a 30 minute credit. After that, the cost is $1 per 30 minutes.
When questioned about the difference between this program and the City of Baltimore that just ended their bike share program, Korin explained that this was a different vendor and that this is the City trying out different things just as Baltimore has with their switch to Lime and Bird (dockless scooter rentals).
