Montco Expands Bike Share Program To Norristown

NORRISTOWN, PA -- After a promising pilot program in 2015, the Montgomery County bike share program will return and be expanded to Norristown Farm Park beginning Thursday, May 5.

The new docking station at Norristown Farm Park will be located adjacent to the Salt Wing near the parking area that can be reached via the park entrance off Germantown Pike.

There will be four bikes available for rent at that location. Bicycles will also be available at the initial two locations located in Lower Perkiomen Valley Park in Oaks, and at the head of the Pennypack Trail, just off Huntingdon Pike in Lower Moreland. There will be six bikes available for rent at the Pennypack Trail location and four at Lower Perkiomen Valley Park.

Rates remain unchanged, and are $5 per hour or $25 per day (up to 24 hours).

“The bike share program was sufficiently successful last year that the commissioners believed it deserved to be brought back and expanded,” said Chris Smith, interim director of the county’s Assets and Infrastructure department. “We expect the program to grow as more and more people become aware of it, and there is also the possibility of individual municipalities signing on and offering the bike share program on their trails or in their parks.”

In 2015 there were 1,306 total rides and 717 active bike share members. The average length of a ride was 48 minutes. The Pennypack location was, by far, the busiest last year with 69 percent of the rentals, with the Oaks location responsible for the remaining 31 percent.

Once again, the county is offering the program in conjunction with Zagster, a nationally-known company offering bike share programs throughout the country. The docking station in Oaks is strategically located on the Perkiomen Trail near the intersections with the Schuylkill River Trail and the Chester Valley Trail.

The Huntingdon Valley location is in one of the most highly populated sections of the county on the newly extended Pennypack Trail. The bikes are available for use by the hour or the day through Zagster’s mobile app or via text. Montgomery County’s Zagster program features the Breezer Uptown, an award-winning bike known for its lightweight, yet durable construction, specifically designed for city and paved-trail riding.

All bikes come with spacious baskets perfect for carrying personal belongings and the Zagster bike lock, which allows riders to securely park their bikes wherever they want, allowing the ultimate in convenience. Riders can join the bike share program by downloading the Zagster Mobile App, available for iPhone and Android, or online athttp://zagster.com/montcopa.

To use the Mobile App, riders simply enter the unique ID of the bike they wish to use and an access code for the lock box is provided. Alternatively, they can text the bike ID and receive the code in return.

Riders can use the code throughout the duration of their rental to lock and unlock the bike anywhere along their trip. Once the bike is returned to a Zagster location, the touch of a button ends the rental and releases the bike for the next rider.

There are 91 miles of trails in the Montgomery County trail network, with an additional eight miles in design or under construction.

An estimated 800,000 people use the Schuylkill River Trail each year, with another 400,000 using the Perkiomen Trail. In the next two years, improvements or extensions are planned for the Schuylkill River Trail, Chester Valley Trail, Pennypack Trail, Wissahickon Trail, Cross County Trail, and the Sunrise Trail.