Bikes are lined up in a Broad Street warehouse in this file photo. The Chattanooga bike share program begins today.After months of teasing, Bike Chattanooga riders hit the streets Friday to kick off a testing phase for the sharing program that officials planned to get rolling back in April.
The test riders are 30 of the program’s roughly 100 people who have signed up for an annual membership. City officials hope to include more members as they collect data on the bikes’ usage, though they haven’t announced a start date for the general public and aren’t currently accepting members.
As of Friday, 25 of 28 stations around town are operational, mostly because of Riverbend, and more stations are planned to open in 2013.
Philip Pugliese, bicycle coordinator for Outdoor Chattanooga, said the program was delayed while Bike Chattanooga learned how to implement many advanced features on the rental stations, such as high-efficiency solar masts for power, color touchscreens for credit card rentals and advanced locks.
“This is the newest of the new,” he said. “It’s putting Chattanooga on the leading edge, and it’s just taking a little longer than we expected.”