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St. Augustine gearing up for start of bike share program

Officials say it's the first bike share program in Northeast Florida.

St. Augustine is launching a new bike-sharing program this summer. 

Officials say it will be the first city in northeast Florida to have a bike share program. Riders will simply rent a bike for the time they need it. 

"I ride to work," Haley Kenyon said. "I live downtown. I'm also a Flagler student, so I bike to school as well." 

With a bike share program, "You can rent a bike from one location and use it to get to another location. You can leave the bike there. It charges you [for the] time you spend on the bike." 

The program has been in the works for six years, according to cycling advocate Heather Neville. She says a bike share program will give people another way to get around the small, popular city which is crammed with cars. 

"Building more road miles is not a feasible solution for congestion," Neville said. "Surface parking is very expensive and bad for the environment. So if we've got people doing 2-3 mile trips, we should be encouraging other modes." 

Other U.S. cities have installed bike share programs through various companies. St. Augustine is partnering with the Gotcha company, placing 100 bikes around town with 12 hub locations.  

Reuben Franklin is the city's Mobility Director. He said Flagler Health Plus is paying $100,000 to launch the program and an annual $100,000 cost to keep it running for five years. 

Some cities with similar programs have seen bikes cluttering sidewalks and public spaces. St. Augustine plans to curb that.

"You're incentivized to bring it back to the hub station," Neville said. "So you will have savings by returning the bike to the hub." 

Safety is the top priority for cyclists.

"I think a lot of tourists and local people don't really know the bike rules of the road," Kenyon said. "Especially drivers as well. A lot of drivers get way to close to cyclists."

"The City of St. Augustine and St. Johns County are working on measures to make it better, safer, and to give dedicated space," Neville said.

As for putting the brakes on road congestion in St. Augustine, Franklin said it's too early to tell.

"I do believe it will help to an extent," Franklin said. "With other bike share programs, they're just starting to study the impact of these on traffic congestion." 

The city aims to launch the bike share program in late Augustine or early September.  

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