TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Douglas J. Hewett, ICMA-CM, City Manager
FROM: Kevin V. Arata, Director, Corporate Communications
DATE: August 6, 2018
RE:
Title
Shared Bike operations within the City of Fayetteville
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
All
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Desirable Place to Live, Work and Recreate
Executive Summary:
Bike sharing programs are used within many municipalities, universities and business campuses nation-wide. Fayetteville State University (FSU) is partnering with Lime in mid-August to provide bikes to students within the campus and its outlying areas. Bike sharing is ideal for short trips, providing users the ability to conveniently use bicycles located in their area. Bike sharing programs have the capability to reduce vehicular traffic, especially for short point-to-point trips; their use is often seen as a “first mile / last mile” mode of transportation to and from other transportation assets.
Background:
City of Fayetteville representatives (CM Dawkins / Kevin Arata) were invited by Street Level Media to a briefing by Lime staff to FSU representatives in the winter of 2018. Since that time, FSU has contracted with Lime to begin using their services on or about Aug. 20th. Staff have continued to research how other municipalities have approached the use of shared bike programs in their areas, a synopsis of which is provided in the attached PowerPoint presentation.
Issues/Analysis:
As a result of FSU’s contract with Lime, those bikes will soon be visible in other parts of the city, not just on the FSU campus. It is recommended that the City of Fayetteville take a position on the use of bike sharing across the city in an effort to control their entry into the city as they see fit, rather than allowing vendors to decide when and how to implement their individual bike sharing programs.
Budget Impact:
None foreseen. Bike sharing programs are typically instituted by vendors that provide the bikes and their associated maintenance at no cost to host areas.
Options:
A. Choose a sole-source bike share vendor to allow them to operate within the City of Fayetteville, enforcing requirements with the vendor via a contract.
B. Choose to institute an ordinance-based system that allows for one or more bike share vendors to operate within the city, provided they comply with the parameters of the ordinance.
Pros to Ordinance:
Defines set parameters for potential vendors
Can be set to act as limiting factor for number of vendors / bikes in City limits
Requires formal application / permit process for possible vendors
Cons to Ordinance:
Possibly cumbersome to administer / enforce
Most municipalities polled in NC thus far have not taken ordinance route
We don’t know what we don’t know (it’s so new to municipalities)
Issues to Resolve:
How to staff / manage at city level
Are penalties against vendors civil in nature?
How to enforce violations from a ticketing perspective
How to recoup fees charged to vendor(s).
Recommended Action:
Staff recommends developing ordinances, fashioned after Durham’s, that outline parameters for shared bike use in the City, based on the fact that Lime will begin use on FSU’s campus in August and their bikes will invariably end up off the FSU campus and within the City
Attachments:
• Durham ordinances
• PowerPoint depicting municipal shared bike use