Beginning First Friday, Aug. 4, Carbondale commuters will have a new way to get around. For months, anticipation has been building for WE-cycle’s expansion into one of the Valley’s most bicycle-friendly towns. Stations have already appeared at 17 locations and soon 80 well-maintained bikes, each with a basket and pedal-powered light, will be docking between them. What’s more, half of the inventory will be electric (e-bikes).
WE-cycle is a nonprofit (founded locally in 2013) that operates bike-share programs in Aspen, Snowmass Village, Basalt, El Jebel and Willits in partnership with the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA). In November of 2022, Carbondale trustees approved a Memorandum of Understanding with RFTA pledging $210,688 toward the project, which covered 20% of the infrastructure costs and 100% of direct local operations. RFTA covered the remaining 80% of infrastructure costs at $492,294 as well as other costs including $17,977 for anticipated replacement and maintenance of equipment.
Anyone registered with WE-cycle can take a bicycle from any dock for up to 30 minutes per ride for free. Fees begin to incur beyond that time limit to encourage riders to keep their trips short. For pedal bikes, the fee is 50 cents per minute. For an e-bike, the fee is $5 per minute.
Unique to Carbondale, each station is adorned with art by Bailey Haines (www.pinestreetprints.com). Haines, an artist living in Satank, was commissioned by Carbondale Arts using unanticipated funds from Alpine Bank — $10,000 donated during the Carbondale-founded bank’s 50th anniversary celebration in January.
“When I read initially about the project, I was really excited that WE-cycle was coming to Carbondale,” Haines told The Sopris Sun. “I feel like the pace of life is so fast, and giving more people more opportunities to get out of their cars or out of the bus to travel at a slower pace, it allows us to absorb the beauty that is happening all around us.”
Inspired by the landscape, Haines composed rolling waves of red and orange to represent Red Hill, intersecting with softer blues that evoke our rivers. The stations also feature a small dandelion, Carbondale’s town flower, and Haines designed a decal for five special e-bikes featuring other local flora.
“I can’t say enough good things about Carbondale Arts and WE-cycle,” she said. “I feel like they did an incredible job of managing the project from all sides.”
Bailey Haines presents her ideas at a Carbondale Arts meeting with WE-cycle. Photo by Sarah Overbeck
Every station is solar-powered and two in Carbondale have larger Skyhook solar panels to charge the e-bikes: one at the roundabout and one at Town Hall. “We’re grateful whenever a rider can dock an e-bike at a solar-powered charging station,” said Program Manager Annie Bricker.
When e-bikes lose their juice or bikes otherwise accumulate at one station, Bricker explained that it is the job of a “reblancer,” part of the field operations team, to redistribute them using an electric car or e-bike pulling a trailer. As evidenced, WE-cycle is committed to keeping fossil fuel emissions as low as possible. “We’re trying to make sure that our bike trips and our balancing of bike trips are remaining sustainable as well,” she said.
Also unique to Carbondale, WE-cycle aims to keep the program going year-round. Assisting this goal and general maintenance of the Carbondale fleet, the organization procured offices and shop space at 695 Buggy Circle.
Downloading the app may be the easiest way to use the service, but this does not preclude people without a smartphone from participating. Bricker explained that anyone can acquire a physical keycard to be scanned at each station for accessing bikes. Sign-up does require a credit card, which will be charged if someone goes above the allotted 30-minute limit. The minimum age for using WE-cycle was recently lowered from 16 to 14, and Bricker anticipates the station near Roaring Fork High School will be quite popular.
WE-cycle continues to expand its services in Aspen and the midvalley and intends to grow in Carbondale, too. For now, data will be collected to inform the team of demand, gaps, etc. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is slated for this First Friday at Town Hall at 5:30pm, followed by a celebration at KDNK (76 South Second Street).
Sign up now and learn more at www.we-cycle.org