Leaders renew efforts for bike share program after COVID-19 put the brakes on

Local leaders are looking to renew efforts to bring a bike share program to the Cape Fear region.

Members of the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization voted to develop a request for proposals for a bike share program at their meeting Jan. 26.

The planning group first explored starting a bike share program in the area in 2017 when they released an initial request for proposals. A bike share vendor was selected by the Wilmington City Council in 2018, but the company wasn't able to implement bike share because they couldn't secure a title sponsor.

The agreement ended in January 2020 and the planning organization tried again to find a vendor. They released another request for proposals in February 2020.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on their progress because many bike share companies stopped accepting new projects, said Nick Cannon, the WMPO's Transportation Demand Management Coordinator.

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Now, leaders are trying once again to bring bike share to the area. Implementing a bike share program is identified as a goal in the area's long-range transportation plan, and it's a priority listed in Cape Fear Change in Motion 2020, the area's recently adopted transportation demand management plan, according to Mike Kozlosky, the executive director of the WMPO.

“We felt it was the opportune time to re-engage the conversation around implementing a bike share program in the Wilmington region,” Kozlosky said.

The city of Wilmington is the only local municipality that has expressed interest in the bike share program, Cannon said.

Even though members of the WMPO and the Wilmington City Council have expressed interest in a bike share program in the past, Cannon said the group wants to "put it back on their radar ... to make sure it's still something that they would like to pursue."

Cannon said he hopes to release the new request for proposals by the end of February.

Previous proposal requests called for 100 bikes spread across 20-to-25 docking stations located throughout the Wilmington area. The new request should include many of the parameters included in the previous ones, according to Cannon. For example, the group will ask that any proposal works with a minority-owned business and will be accessible to those who don't have smart phone or a credit card.

Although the locations of the bike docks would be finalized after a vendor is selected, Cannon said he expects the bike docks would be spread throughout Wilmington near areas with shopping centers, libraries, parks, schools or Wilmington's downtown business district.

"The general idea is to connect areas of points of interest throughout the community,” he said.

Bringing a bike share program to the area would follow a trend that's been seen in other Southern cities, including Charlotte and Greenville, South Carolina, which have introduced bike share programs in recent years, Kozlosky said.

Bike share could help make the Wilmington area more accessible and less dependent upon cars for both residents and tourists alike.

"Really, it goes back to the quality of life of the residents and visitors. It goes back to economic development,” Kozlosky said. “Having this bike share program would provide a terrific standard, and also alleviate, in some instances, having to get into your car to run an errand.”

Reporter Emma Dill can be reached at 910-343-2096 or edill@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington bike share could be coming soon as conversations resume