Bike-share Vall-eBike pilot ended October 31

Valley Regional Transit’s Vall-eBike pilot bike-share program ended on Monday, October 31, as scheduled.

The pilot program, largely funded by the Capital City Development Corporation (CCDC), demonstrated the benefits and popularity of electric-assist shared bicycles. The program launched on July 13, 2022, with fifty bikes concentrated in downtown Boise. In the three-and-a-half months the program operated, it attracted 2,400 riders, who collectively took nearly 3,000 trips.

“Considering we operated the system with less than half the bikes of the previous Boise GreenBike system, we think the pilot was an overwhelming success!” said Dave Fotsch, Bikeshare Director. “It’s clear to us that people like and will use electric-assist shared bikes.”

Valley Regional Transit will now analyze the data from the pilot and develop plans for a permanent and expanded bike-share program, Fotsch explained.

The 50 electric-assist shared bicycles were provided by Drop Mobility, a company that won a VRT bike-share request for proposal in 2019. Drop offered a low-cost lease of the demonstration bikes, with the goal of generating interest in the new system and attracting sponsors for a more extensive system next year.

CCDC provided the initial $50,000 required to bring the bikes to Boise and offered to match the next $50,000 in sponsorships. Valley Regional Transit secured additional sponsorships from the Treasure Valley Clean Cities Coalition, Idaho Advocates for Community Transportation, KeyBank, and Cushing Terrell, for a total of $25,000, which was matched by CCDC. Sponsorships and ride revenue covered Vall-eBike’s operating costs.

Electric-assist shared bicycles have transformed the bike-share industry. Cities that have adopted the technology routinely see a dramatic increase in ridership because users can more easily get to their destinations with the added electric boost. Plans for the bike-share system include more bikes, but also efforts to distribute the bikes more equitably throughout the community.

Valley Regional Transit operated the 127-bike Boise GreenBike system from April 2015 until September of 2020. VRT closed the system because of the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of title sponsors, and equipment technology issues.