New bike sharing program coming to Sharpsburg

A new community initiative designed to get people bicycling through Sharpsburg may soon be ready to roll.

The Sharpsburg Neighborhood Organization has partnered with Sharpsburg Community Library to create the borough’s first bike sharing program.

Details are still being finalized.

Here are the rules so far:

Riders don’t need to be residents. However, they must obtain a library card and be at least 18 years old.

Helmets must be in hand at time of borrowing, or a person may borrow one from the library.

How long a bike can be borrowed and other and pricing have yet to be determined.

Borrowing an idea

Library branch manager Sara Mariacher said the program follows a trend seen throughout the country.

“Nationwide, libraries are increasingly offering recreational equipment for their communities to borrow,” Mariacher said. “Borrowing a bicycle, rather than purchasing one, may be a wonderful way for someone to explore the neighborhood or even for an adult to learn to ride.

“We are still determining the borrowing period for the bicycles. I expect to have our final policy ready in the next couple of weeks.”

The idea for the program came from the Sharpsburg Neighborhood Organization, which recently received 10 bikes through Bike Share Pittsburgh’s Recycle A Bicycle program.

“Nearly a quarter of our households here don’t have cars, so making sure that people can bike and walk safely to wherever they need to go is so important for us,” said Brittany Reno, mayor and SNO executive director.

“We’re hoping that having more people trying out bicycling around town will help inform our priorities for future bike/pedestrian infrastructure improvement projects.”

SNO also donated bike racks to the library.

Bike Share Pittsburgh donated old Healthy Ride bikes to SNO and dozens of area nonprofits and schools.

Those bikes became available after the city launched its new bike share system called POGOH last year. The change included new station locations and a new fleet of bicycles.

The name is designed to suggest hopping — as if on a pogo stick — between city neighborhoods. The added “H” is an homage to the silent letter at the end of Pittsburgh.

Erin Potts, director of marketing and community outreach at Bike Share Pittsburgh, said she is excited to see the old bikes get new life.

“Bike Share Pittsburgh is thrilled that Sharpsburg is getting more people on bikes in the community with this free program that recycles the former Healthy Ride bike fleet,” Potts said.

Reno said word has started to spread throughout the borough about the new program, and she welcomes any feedback.

“We definitely want to hear from you,” she said. “(We hope) there are supporters of the program who want to get involved and help with the bike maintenance or make a donation of funds or skills for us to continue to improve, maintain, and expand the accessibility, safety, and usability of the Sharpsburg Bike Share fleet.

“We’ve already had community members offer their support to help maintain a regular maintenance and safety check schedule for the bikes. So many friendly people stopped to ask about it and offer help while I was painting them outside of the SNO building on Main Street.”

People can email Brittany Reno at brittany@sharpsburgneighborhood.org.

More information about the bike share program is expected to be posted later this month on the library’s website, coopersiegelcommunitylibrary.org/sharpsburg.