E-bike stations will be rolling into the Park City area this week, but residents won’t be able to use the rental service until next month.

Summit Bike Share starts its newest season on Tuesday, May 14 — about a month earlier than in 2023. The county’s first electric bicycle sharing program has been running since 2017, but the Transportation Department brought operations in-house last summer.

“The biggest change is that customer service and maintenance will now be handled by the county,” said Summit County Engineer Steve Dennis. “Now when you call into customer service, local county staff will answer and we are excited to interact with the community that way.”

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There are about 300 e-bikes in the system and dozens of stations where they can be rented 24/7 from Deer Valley, Main Street and Prospector to Canyons Village, Willow Creek Park and Jeremy Ranch. 

New stations were installed at the Park City Visitors Center, Frostwood Village at Canyons Village, Lincoln Station and the Park City Hospital, bringing the total number of stations to just under 30. Summit Bike Share opened three other locations last year in Canyons to expand services to seasonal workers and those living in affordable housing. 

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Most check-outs and returns occur at Park Avenue, Newpark Plaza and the Old Town Transit Center. There have been 167,550 rides with Summit Bike Share since the program launched.

Dennis said a handful of county employees help run Summit Bike Share, including two bicycle mechanics responsible for quickly troubleshooting issues. 

The county spent around $100,000 on the program last year, but the figure includes expenditures that aren’t an annual cost. The previous software provider, Bewegen Technologies, charged about $250,000 to run the service. The Canadian company filed for bankruptcy.

Summit Bike Share works by asking riders to purchase a pass. An individual pass is $4 per ride for up to 30 minutes. A four-day pass with unlimited 45-minute rides can be purchased for $20, a monthly pass with the same restrictions is $45, and a seasonal pass with 90-minute rides is $130. Additional time can always be added for 18 cents per mile.

The e-bikes are unlocked using a mobile app or pass card and can be returned to any station after the ride. 

An end-of-season survey determined around 38% of Summit Bike Share users were local to Summit County and 17% were from Utah. Dennis said there was also a lot of feedback about proper e-bike etiquette, trail usage and safety.

Summit County will be celebrating the launch week of Summit Bike Share during National Bike to Work Day on May 17. Residents are encouraged to submit a photo or video of themselves using the program to be entered to win a helmet and more.

Entries can be submitted until 5 p.m. on May 20 at summitcounty.info/sbsopen. Visit summitbikeshare.com for more information or call 435-336-7433.