Bicycle sharing venture in Little Rock, North Little Rock delayed

Bantam Strategy Group President and CEO Lindsey West shows off an example of what the bicycles will look like in the planned bike-sharing program for Little Rock and North Little Rock. Officials have still not signed a contract but hope to launch the program in the spring of 2019.
Bantam Strategy Group President and CEO Lindsey West shows off an example of what the bicycles will look like in the planned bike-sharing program for Little Rock and North Little Rock. Officials have still not signed a contract but hope to launch the program in the spring of 2019.

A planned bike-sharing program set for Little Rock and North Little Rock likely won't start until spring 2019, the president and chief executive officer of the operating company said.

Officials last spring announced that the program would likely begin in early 2018, but they still have not signed a contract on how the program will be run.

Officials involved in the negotiations have agreed on some details.

When it does start, the program will have solar-powered bicycles, more than 200 bicycles in the downtown area and subsidized memberships for lower-income riders, Lindsey West, president and CEO of Bantam Strategy Group, told a crowd of people at the city of Little Rock's ninth annual Sustainability Summit last week.

West showcased a sleek, black bicycle with a solar panel on top of the rack on the back wheel and one that made up the bottom of the basket on the front of the bike.

Attendees watched as West showed them the bike's lights, loud bell and lock system.

The bike, which matches the type of ride that bike-sharing firm BCycle would manufacture for the cities, also has Bluetooth capability that would navigate riders toward destinations indicated on their own smartphones.

"It's very high-tech," West said.

Riders would unlock the bikes using the program's mobile app, a personalized key code or a membership card. Unlike programs in many other cities, the bike racks would not have similar technology.

The cities' downtown areas would have 20-25 bike rack stations in the initial phase of the program, West and the cities have said. That may include the South Main district in Little Rock, Heifer International and the Capitol Mall.

Bantam would expand bikes and stations outside of the downtowns in subsequent phases.

That would be good news to Sarah Bernhardt, 51, who can't drive because she suffers from seizures.

Bernhardt, who also considers herself an environmentalist, lives in Hillcrest and uses the bus to go places, which isn't always convenient for her.

Until the bike-sharing program starts in Hillcrest, Bernhardt said she might use it downtown.

"I'm sure when I'm down here it would be good for the way I travel down here," she said.

Bantam will operate the bike-sharing program for five years, starting the day of launch. The company specializes in bike-sharing programs in small and medium-sized cities. They announced a program in Mobile, Ala., last week, run a program in Birmingham, Ala., and are trying to start one in Baton Rouge.

After those five years, Metroplan Executive Director Tab Townsell said, the plan is for the cities to take over ownership of the bicycles and decide who will operate the program.

Metroplan is the facilitator of the contract because it involves Little Rock and North Little Rock, but it will not operate the program.

West intends for the program to be supported by sponsorships and rider memberships, but the two cities may contribute to the first year or few years.

"Corporate sponsorships are very important to making it work," West said.

Little Rock has offered to pay $45,000 each year for the first three years of operation, said John Landosky, the city bicycle pedestrian coordinator.

Once a contract is signed, Townsell said, West can reach official agreements with potential corporate sponsors.

West has already talked to local business about sponsorships. Many corporations have committed sponsor funding for the year and may not be able to offer any to the program right now, she said.

Landosky is optimistic that sponsors, which are used to varying degrees in other cities' bike-sharing programs, will sign on here, too.

"This is an asset to our community," he said.

The bicycles have three spots for sponsor logos, and they would be consistent on all 200 bikes.

Once those sponsorships are in place and the designs are complete, the vendor needs six months to manufacture them, West said.

Memberships typically cost about $75 per year in similar markets, West said. A subsidized membership could cost as little as $15 per year or be otherwise adjusted by different prices and a certain number of rides.

Single-day checkouts typically cost $6.

Landosky said the effort to provide subsidized memberships is one of the reasons officials chose Bantam from five groups that submitted proposals to operate the program.

"It needs to be accessible to all," West said. She added that the company has expanded bike sharing to lower-income neighborhoods, too.

Townsell said he thought the parties were in the late stages of contract negotiations.

Asked why no contract had been signed and if the cities were asking for more than others were, Townsell said they were not and that a lot of the past several months has been spent waiting for other documents to be signed and mailed.

"It's taken some time to get through," he said, "because it's a great idea, but the devil's in the details."

Metro on 04/02/2018

Upcoming Events