The City of Chattanooga and Alta Bicycle Share announced that the Bike Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System opened to the public last night, providing 300 bicycles in a network of 28 stations throughout downtown and into the North Shore. The successful launch of Bike Chattanooga initiates the first large scale bicycle transit system in the Southeast.

The public may use the system by walking up to the solar-powered kiosks or by signing up online at www.bikechattanooga.com.  Annual memberships are available at a reduced cost of $60 through September 3rd.  24 hour memberships are available for $6 at each station kiosk. Patron Members, who were the early adopters of this historic system, were provided with their membership keys this morning.

“We really appreciate the public’s support with this innovative project,” said Chattanooga Bicycle Coordinator Philip Pugliese. “It will set a new standard for bicycle transit in the United States.”

“The City of Chattanooga and our community will continue to work as development partners with PBSC Urban Solutions and Alta Bicycle Share to improve bicycle transit technology.  It’s very exciting that the City’s residents and visitors will get to try these new innovations first,” added Mr. Pugliese.

Alta Bicycle Share and its parent company, Alta Planning + Design, have been leaders in creating bicycle and pedestrian friendly infrastructure throughout the U.S., as well as managing bicycle transit systems from Melbourne, Australia to Washington, D.C.

“Alta Bicycle Share is proud to partner with the City of Chattanooga and Outdoor Chattanooga. This project demonstrates what it takes to be an innovative mid-size city, bringing jobs and new business to create a vibrant and cutting edge community,” remarked Alison Cohen, President of Alta Bicycle Share. “We look forward to creating a financially sustainable business model for bike sharing in cities of this size throughout the United States.”

Innovations

Several innovations have been incorporated into the system according to the demands of the City of Chattanooga, including new solar technology, a user friendly 7-inch color, LCD screen at each kiosk, hybrid credit card readers (magnetic stripe and contact chip), a wireless GPS interface, and member card and smart card readers. These new features are incorporated into every station and will provide new opportunities to integrate with public transit, customer service technologies and corporate sponsors. 

The Chattanooga bicycles will also be equipped with a secondary locking system that will allow the user to secure the bike for short stops without having to return to a station. 

"The bike sharing system of Chattanooga is the first to take advantage of a new operating system provided by PBSC Urban Solutions,” said Alain Ayotte, CEO for PBSC.  “We thank the City of Chattanooga for its assistance and support in developing this new system, which is a tangible improvement over our original design and will now be used in all new cities, including New York. " 

The Bike Chattanooga launch highlights the development partnership between the City of Chattanooga, Alta Bicycle Share and PBSC Urban Solutions.  As PBSC introduces new innovations to its technology, Chattanooga will always have the latest version of hardware and software. Alta Bicycle Share can use the Chattanooga market to model their business operations as they expand into other cities.

Bike Chattanooga is made possible through the continued strong support of the City of Chattanooga, Outdoor Chattanooga and the City of Chattanooga Parks and Recreation Dept., CARTA, the Active Living and Transportation Network, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency, and our current sponsors:  BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the Chattanooga History Center, Gaining Ground’s Local Food Program, and the Tennessee Aquarium.