NORTHAMPTON — After a slight delay and several months of laying idle, the regional ValleyBike Share program will officially make its return on Aug. 12.
According to the city of Northampton, the lead community of the program, the system restarts in partnership with Drop Mobility, the new vendor that was selected to lead the program.
“We are so excited to bring back this popular micromobility program that has been so important in serving the transportation needs of our residents,” said Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra in a statement. “I warmly invite all ValleyBike communities and residents to join us in the celebration of this launch at noon in Pulaski Park on Aug. 12, here in downtown Northampton.”
The announcement comes after the city’s Office of Planning and Sustainability spent the last few months searching for a vendor who can operate the existing bike share system for a three-year contract term. The search was done through a request for proposals process that began late last year.
The official selection of Drop Mobility in April came one year after ValleyBike Share program halted because Bewegen Inc., the prior vendor, could no longer meet its contract obligations as the program’s main service provider.
Northampton attempted to renegotiate a short-term contract with Bewegen in early 2023 after the provider notified the city that it was initiating bankruptcy proceedings in its home country of Canada in hopes of dissolving existing contracts with its bike share communities around the world. The hope was to reopen for its users that summer.
That, however, did not happen.
“We know that bike share is a critical component of our transportation system in the valley for all communities, and we want to ensure that we take steps to guarantee a long and uninterrupted service for our residents,” Carolyn Misch, Northampton’s director of planning and sustainability said last summer. “Participating communities agreed that the best way forward would be to open a competitive procurement process to select a bike share partner with more financial stability and better terms for our communities.”
According to the city, Drop Mobility was selected as the new vendor for their “deep understanding of micro mobility” as an important component of the region’s transportation system and for their experience in rescuing and operating e-assist bike shares across the country.
Originally, the program was supposed to restart in the spring, but a delay forced the program to restart in August, instead.
“We are so excited to be able to relaunch this transportation system in the valley for all communities and we look forward to forging new and expanded partners who will join the system and participate in its success,” said Misch. “Participating communities have worked hard both in this selection process as well as in engaging our regional legislators to help us brainstorm about funding options for the future.”
According to Misch, all the communities in the program found grants and other one-time sources of funding to help relaunch the system and they will continue to work with state, regional and federal partners to find sustainable funding for future years.
Currently, Northampton, Amherst, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Chicopee, Easthampton, Hadley, Holyoke, Springfield, South Hadley and West Springfield all participate in the ValleyBike Share program, which officially began in the region in 2018.
According to the city of Northampton, bikes will start arriving to their stations on Aug. 10 and will be available to rent starting Aug. 12 immediately following the ribbon cutting event.
In preparation for the relaunch, Drop Mobility, Northampton and system partners were able to repurpose existing bikes and docks, moving them from the former system to the Drop platform and further expanding the system by adding Drop e-bikes and docks.
The relaunch will include 300 existing bikes and 50 Drop e-bikes. According to the city, details around pricing, equity memberships and pre-sale deals will go live on ValleyBike.org beginning Aug. 1.
During the celebration launch on Aug. 12, ValleyBike will be giving free helmets to the first 15 people that arrive. Helmets will also be available for those who want to test ride the bikes.
The city said it will explore options to restart year-round operations for the program at a later date. In the past, the program lasted on a seasonal schedule from April to November. ValleyBike also operated a winter trial in 2021-22.
