An event at Bicentennial Park today served as a “soft-launch” for the new CoGo bike share system; two stations were unveiled, the new bikes were admired, and Mayor Michael Coleman announced the beginning of annual membership sales.
The solar-powered stations – one at the park and one at City Hall – were turned on and available for people to test out and get an idea for how they work. They will be shut off again while the rest of the stations are installed over the course of the next two weeks. The full launch of the system is planned for the last week in July, when all 30 stations should be installed and 300 bikes available for use.
The first 100 people to purchase annual memberships from the new CoGo website – which cost $75 and grant users unlimited trips of 30 minutes or less – will receive special “founding member” key fobs as well as t-shirts and other CoGo-branded promotional items. Daily passes can be purchased from the station kiosks once the system is up; they will cost six dollars and allow 24 hours of unlimited 30-minute trips. For both annual and day-pass users, longer trips will cost three dollars for each additional 30 minutes of use.
Heather Bowden, CoGo’s project director, said that she’s noticed the excitement growing in Columbus as the launch date draws closer, with lots of people expressing interest specifically in being among the first to sign up. She encouraged people to keep an eye on CoGo’s new website; “be on the look-out in the next couple of weeks , via the website, facebook and twitter, we’ll be doing more promotional events building up to the system’s launch”.
More information can be found online at www.cogobikeshare.com.
Photos by Walker Evans.