Bike-share program creating excitement with local residents

The city’s first TOLEDO — bike-share program appears to be a hit with local residents and the high-tech,

—

GPS-enhanced bicycles for it haven’t even been built yet.

A 90-minute event called Community Bike Conversation, in which details of the program will be presented by Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz and city of Toledo officials, begins at 4 p.m. Wednesday inside Wildwood Metropark’s Ward Pavilion, 4830 W. Central Ave., in West Toledo.

The event also will feature representatives of The Gotcha Group, the Charleston, S.C., company that will build Toledo’s smart bikes for rent.

At Wednesday morning’s Metroparks Toledo board meeting, officials were told the city moved the event to that location because of an expected large crowd of enthusiasts, possibly 150 or more people.

This is the first time representatives of The Gotcha Group, including chief executive officer Sean Flood, will be in town to take face-to-face questions from the public.

Immediately after the Metroparks Toledo board meeting, Flood said he’s pleased by Toledo’s response.

The program here, depending when it’s launched, will be the company’s 34th or 35th in major U.S. cities. Its Charleston office is its headquarters for programs east of the Mississippi River; it also has an office in Los Angeles for programs west of the Mississippi.

The Gotcha Group’s bikes are equipped with what Flood described to the Metroparks Toledo board as a “very powerful” GPS to track movement. It will generate long-term usage data for local transportation officials to learn more about how and where people bicycle in urban settings, he said.

“The back of the bike is a computer,” Flood said.

The data has even been used to determine how many calories riders burn in each community, he said.

The bicycles coming to Toledo will be American-made, manufactured at the company’s Charleston office, Mr. Flood said.

He told The Blade the program is now expected to begin in August or September, once a name for the bikes and a color for them is selected. Each fleet of bicycles carries a name and color unique to every community they serve, a branding strategy designed to help promote local connections.

“We want it to be part of the fabric of the city,” Flood told The Blade.

And for the company’s name itself ?

The Gotcha Group sounds catchy on its own. But, just so you know: Gotcha, according to Flood, is an acronym for Green Operated Transit Carrying Humanity Around.

The company will be providing 100 bikes and 18 docking stations in downtown. Toledo’s eventual goal is to broaden the program to other parts of the city. Gotcha’s bid of $294,500 was selected by Metroparks Toledo in late March.

The program is being created by the park district, the city, several major businesses and other groups. The operation contract is to be managed by the city. A vote is expected soon by city council.