Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard said Carmel will partner with Zagster to implement a new bike-sharing program designed to provide transportation options for  Carmel residents. Carmel plans to allow bike rental by late March.

Walt Buschbacher, recreational biker and junior, said this bike-share system is an opportunity to help those who either do not have cars or want to exercise more. As an avid biker, he advocates an increase in bike usage.

“My experience biking started around

when I was five years old. I became very fond of biking and have continued biking across the nation in states such as Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan,” Buschbacher said. “I continue mountain biking and road biking. I really hope that this new program around the city could get people interested in biking and love it like I do.”

According to Brainard, people can go online and make their own accounts to rent a bike from one rack and return it to any of the other racks throughout the city.

“It provides convenience and ease for those who want another way to get around the city,” Brainard said via email.

According to Karen Haley, Executive Director of Indianapolis Cultural Trail Inc. and Pacers Bikeshare representative, the public bike-share program allows the public to use bikes for a small fee, providing both convenience and a “greener” mode of transportation. Haley also said the idea for the Carmel bike-share program was inspired by the success of the Pacers Bikeshare in downtown Indianapolis.

Haley said, “Indianapolis Cultural Trail Inc. launched Pacers Bikeshare in April 2014 with 25 stations and 250 bikes throughout the downtown area. The goal for this system was to help transportation in a metropolitan area and to be environmentally aware. Since it was so successful, the idea probably spread to Carmel, which is a great place to have a bike-share program. For the Pacers Bikeshare, most of the bike-share stations are on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail since many people enjoy that area.”

“Overall, I think the bike-share will benefit the community in many ways, such as helping (with) getting people outside and exercising, and I feel that it will lead to the increased popularity of pathways like the Monon Trail to allow bikers to get rid of stress,” she said. “On the money side of things, this bike-share would also make biking more affordable for everyone to bike and it will overall help bring the community together.”