Today was perfect for a bike ride, and everyone at the grand opening of the CDPHP Cycle! bike share station in Glens Falls today knew it.
“Today’s a happy day for me to see this program get initiated,” said Queensbury Supervisor John Strough, one of a handful of area leaders to speak at the opening event outside Glens Falls City Hall. Strough is an avid cyclist himself, and said what others in attendance also mentioned: “We don’t do this alone, we do this as a community.”
He spoke during a celebration of the new station at 10:30 this morning. About 40 leaders, staff, friends and press attended.
Bike share programs are short-trip rentals for bicycles. Generally, the bikes are parked at a station, and, using a cell phone app, a person can rent the bike, ride it and deliver it back to any station in the bike share system. The CDPHP model is a bit different in that riders can park the bike, locking it to any bike rack or fixed public object. They do not need to return it to a station.
The new bike station outside Glens Falls City Hall has already been installed, and others are, or are expected, in other locations in Glens Falls, Queensbury and Lake George.
A total of about 20 bicycles are in Warren County now, but officials said this number will expand and the cycles themselves will be replaced and improved with time.
“That’s really an initial number,” said Natalia Burkhart, a public relations manager with CDPHP.
The full system of 500, three-gear cycles covers locations from the Albany area to Saratoga County and now the North Country, officials said.
Adding CDPHP Cycle! to the Glens Falls area has been on Amy Collins’ mind, she said, since 2017 when it first began in the Albany area. Collins is Glens Falls’ director of tourism and business development.
“We were able to get it done,” she said, adding that she appreciated the interconnectivity of the system that helps connect Glens Falls to other Warren County areas. She said it is like a wheel itself with hubs and spokes to other places.
Carm Basile, the CEO of the Capital District Transportation Authority, told those gathered that the five-year-old system has 20,000 official members, though membership is not necessary for riding. The system has seen 120,000 rides in its lifetime, and each month gets better, he said.
“We break records every single month,” he said.
CDPHP Cycle! operates in partnership with CDTA, the website says.
Those interviewed at the event, from Hudson Headwaters Health Network, CDPHP, CDTA and local governments all drew on the idea that cycling is a healthy way to relieve stress, lower the risk of heart attacks, and help the environment.
“People are using bikes for purposeful trips,” Basile said, adding that the baskets on the front of the bikes are excellent for shopping and other errands. They are not just for recreational rides anymore, he said. People just “hop on a bike instead of the car.”
A variety of payment plans exist, including by-the-hour and by-the-month. Plans start as low as $4.