Zagster to provide 150 bikes for Bloomington, IU bike share this spring

In October 2017, the city and IU announced they were pursuing a bike share program to serve both populations with a dockless system that doesn’t require specialty bike racks. Zagster was chosen from nine other bidders to own and operate the bike share at no cost to the city or IU. The bikes’ rental rates have not been established, but users with and without smartphones will be able to pick up and drop off bikes at any bike rack across the city. 

Jane St. John, the city’s consultant for the program, expects to see bikes roll out by April’s end.

“We were very scrupulous in picking a bike,” St. John said. “We wanted it to be very safe, and highly functional.”

Founded in 2007, Zagster operates more than 200 bike programs across 35 states. Zagster provides two bike sharing options: Pace, and Ztagster for Municipalities. Bloomington’s Pace will be part of the company’s nationwide dockless bike share network, and not Zagster for Municipalities, which is the company’s subscription-based program for cities that prefer a proprietary bike share.