TITLE: Title
Review of Draft Bike Share RFP
PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is to provide Town Council an opportunity to discuss and comment on the beginnings of an RFP (Request for Proposals) to select a bike share service provider to create a unified system for Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and UNC-Chapel Hill.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning
CONTACT INFORMATION: Zachary Hallock, Transportation Planner, 919-918-7329, zhallock@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:zhallock@townofcarrboro.org>; Tina Moon, Planning Administrator, 919-918-7325, cmoon@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:cmoon@townofcarrboro.org>
INFORMATION:
At the Council’s May 11, 2021 meeting, staff presented information on a potential pilot bike share system, bike share system features, and town code amendments needed to enable/regulate a bike share system (Town of Carrboro - Item #: 21-159 (legistar.com) <https://carrboro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4937265&GUID=95257C69-BE2D-4E72-9D4E-022063BE8D1C&Options=&Search=>). Due to time constraints, the focus has shifted to the development of an RFP to select a bike share provider for Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and UNC.
Based on previous discussions by Council on bike share system features, a number of priorities have been identified. The beginnings of an RFP, which outlines these potential features, can be found as Attachment B. Specific direction from Council indicated that any bike share system should provide a variety of payment methods, ensure that bikes are located throughout town, (especially in areas identified in Attachment C), and be accessible to community members of all ability levels.
These potential features have been structured in such a way that some are required and some are optional, to be incorporated into the RFP. Due to the rapid changes in the bike share industry, many features have been left as optional, to allow for flexibility and innovation. Other aspects of the system (cost per ride, monthly subscription rate, rebalancing process) are left to the discretion of the respondents to describe. This would allow flexibility when evaluating submittals received, provided all the requirements were met.
Some additional elements to consider include:
1. Advertisements
2. Minimum or maximum number of vehicles
3. Extent of service area, potential hub locations, or other areas to advocate for
4. Prioritization or identification of which features are most important
5. Other
The current set of potential bike share features responds to previous discussions and local experience with the existing system at UNC-Chapel Hill. Staff will continue internal conversations on how to structure the bike share procurement process and the bike share system features that are needed for the community to fully realize its expectations for Racial Equity and Environmental Sustainability.
Staff expect to work with our partners at Chapel Hill and UNC to work through these remaining details to refine the draft RFP that staff expects to bring back to Council in November.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
• There has been interest in a bike share system to serve the Town since at least the time of the adoption of the Town’s Bike Plan in 2009, which recommended initiating a bike share program.
• In 2015, a group of UNC City and Regional Planning students prepared a bike share feasibility study for the Town of Carrboro, which indicated that the capital cost to the Town for a 10-station bike share system would begin at $200,000 plus operating expenses. Since that time, there has been a decline in the prevalence of systems managed by municipalities and a rise in privately operated bike share providers.
• Beginning in 2018, staff from UNC, Carrboro and Chapel Hill began meeting with UNCs then current bike share provider, Gotcha, about a potential bike share pilot program with e-bikes. The goal of this pilot was to collecting data to inform future conversations about an RFP for a bike share provider. In preparation for this, and in response to the innovations in bike share and micromobility, Council has discussed this topic on several occasions since then, including:
• February 5, 2019 - Discussion of electric scooters and other shared active transportation systems. This agenda item can be found at Town of Carrboro - Item #: 19-42 (legistar.com) <https://carrboro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3851751&GUID=7B467DB8-085A-4ACE-9F56-E0DCFE4CF395&Options=ID|Text|Attachments|Other|&Search=%22Bike+Share%22>
• October 13, 2020 - Update on the status of bike share as part of the Transportation Projects Report. This agenda item can be found at Town of Carrboro - Item #: 20-368 (legistar.com) <https://carrboro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4664162&GUID=28BE023E-B619-4BC7-B2A6-D04824BCC233&Options=ID|Text|Attachments|Other|&Search=Bike+Share>
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: There is no impact associated with receiving this item.
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends that the Town Council consider the resolution provided (Attachment A) providing comments on the Draft Bike Share RFP as may be desired.