Dockless Bike Updates

A couple quick updates on Campus and a possible lack of interest from Savoy. First a company may make dockless bikes a reality soon on campus:

C-U's first shareable bikes expected to hit streets at start of UI semester
With agreements almost finalized, VeoRide is set to become the first dockless-bike-share service in Champaign-Urbana.

Lily Wilcock, active transportation coordinator at the University of Illinois, said the Indiana-based company gave her serial numbers for 500 bicycles — the biggest fleet size allowed. The goal, she said, is to roll them out around the start of the semester.

One other company, LimeBike, has expressed interest in coming to town. Ben LeRoy, an associate city planner in Champaign, said it submitted a certificate of insurance and showed interest in completing an application.

Dockless bike sharing became permitted after the UI and the cities of Champaign and Urbana solidified an intergovernmental agreement earlier this year.

Each bike is equipped with GPS, has a self-locking mechanism on the back wheel and can be accessed with a phone app.

Riders pay through the app — VeoRide charges 50 cents for 15 minutes — and are instructed on how to properly park bikes when finished. Both cities follow similar guidelines for appropriate parking.

Full article here with more details. Savoy Mayor Joan Dykstra indicated that Savoy isn't actively looking into joining Champaign-Urbana on dockless bike agreements, but indicated that there wasn't much interest. From Tom's Mailbag in the News-Gazatte today:

Dockless bikes in Savoy? 

"The story about C-U's first shareable bike service — http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-08-16/c-us-first-shareable-b... — says the (University of Illinois) and the cities of Champaign and Urbana, "solidified an intergovernmental agreement" earlier this year. Has the village of Savoy been in the loop on this? It seems likely that some of the bikes will find their way to Savoy, or does GPS lock the bikes when they venture beyond the city limits?"

Mayor Dykstra said the village hasn't "been directly contacted but have participated in some discussions with Champaign and Urbana folks about it. We haven't had any requests from citizens about it either."

Full Mailbag here.