An electric-bike share program at University of Idaho has been delayed again — and again and again.
The program in its latest iteration was scheduled to roll out this month. But administrators from three organizations that work to implement the system remain undeterred it will roll out eventually, hoping it can come next spring.
UI’s Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) and its partners have partnered with the company Gotcha for this time the program was delayed, and the last time it was. This time it was delayed because of capitol-investment constraints in light of tariffs the Trump Administration has placed on China, rather than the last time the program was delayed to sign an official agreement before a roll out this spring.
The launch was delayed “because of increased cost of doing business leading to slower production,” UI’s PTS Director Rebecca Couch said.
The price of the program has not changed for UI. UI’s PTS, student government the Associated Students of University of Idaho (ASUI) and the City of Moscow have paid half for the bike share program’s rollout. ASUI paid one-quarter of the program’s initial first-year fee, $5,625 out of the $22,500 initial fee towards the estimated $45,000 expenses. The remainder of ASUI’s contribution— which will come from one year of $1.86 fees per student this year — will be another $5,625, while UI will pay a quarter and the City will pay half.
Couch said Gotcha cannot afford to finance all the projects it has in the works at once given the tariffs that led to increased production costs, so it will stagger which programs it fulfills orders for. UI’s PTS and its partners said they hope to roll out the program in the spring, though no agreement has been signed. Couch said Gotcha was selected, in part, because neighboring Washington State University has a program from the company and they hoped for potential collaboration.
The first time the program was delayed because the last company UI and the city hoped to work with, Spin, had abandoned its bike share program in favor of an electric scooter share program. Moscow not being ready for e-scooters are a sentiment shared by many of those leading the charge on this project, given the city’s lack of regulations.
“They’ll eventually be here is my hope, but in what capacity, I don’t know,” said Jacob Lockhart, ASUI president, who has worked to deploy the bike share program since plans first were in the works three years ago. He originally became involved when he was a then-ASUI Senator on the transportation committee.
Couch said she agrees Moscow needs to do more work before then. The ways it will go into place must be determined first, she said.
“We don’t want to be that city,” she said. “We’ll want regulatory framework in place.”
Namely, the two large questions she believes should be addressed are where they could be ridden and whether helmets should be required. There also is the issue, she said, of putting e-scooters in a college town that has a reputation — whether true or not — for drinking.
Moscow Acting Public Works Director Tyler Palmer, referencing Denver’s
recent ban of riding electric scooters on sidewalks, said cities have had to respond quickly to regulate these technologies, calling it an “industry in flux.” Moscow, he said, needs to prepare more before scooters hit its streets, especially for how to handle accidents.
“We prefer to take a cautious approach before … deploying infrastructure in the streets,” Palmer said.
Lockhart pointed out Moscow and UI have several models they could emulate from other scooter rental programs in the state, such as in Boise and Coeur d’Alene. Still though, administrators are employing a cautious approach.
As for the future of the bike share program, Palmer said he is cautiously optimistic. He and Couch said they selected Gotcha because of its track record of running a “stable program” through what Palmer called a “more sustainable business.” They said the tariff problem is affecting all bike share companies, so they do not believe it is worth it to look at other companies because they do not think another company could have rolled it out quicker. In short, they’re committed to Gotcha, Couch said.
A contract between UI’s PTS, its partners and Gotcha is under review before it is signed, she said.
As for whether the program will roll out when they hope, Lockhart said, “I personally think it will.”
Kyle Pfannenstiel can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @pfannyyy