“A lot of people ask me what it’s like to ride an e-bike,” she said. “It’s just like riding a bike, but you’ve got a little booster that helps you with hills. … They are super, super fun.”
Coronavirus: Complete Coverage by the Dayton Daily News
Link Dayton Bike Share temporarily closed its network of pedal bikes and docking stations in late March to upgrade and overhaul the system as it prepares to launch new electric-assisted eLink bikes.
Link, which celebrated its five-year anniversary on Tuesday, has had 18,000 unique users who took more than 142,000 trips on its green pedal bikes.
But Link is replacing its 27 bike docking stations with bike racks (or hubs) and is transitioning to an app-based system with its new partner Drop Mobility.
The Link Dayton app will available for download on May 12. Link also plans to expand its network of hubs.
Link’s new system will launch hopefully in early June with the old fleet of 225 pedal bikes and 100 new e-bikes, Estandia said.
eLink bikes will assist riders up to speeds of 15 mph, and riders must pedal to activate the motor, Estandia said.
“There is no throttle — you still have to do some work to get a little bit of help,” she said.
eLink bikes can travel up to 30 miles on a full charge, and they will make it easier and quicker to travel farther distances.
MORE: Dayton getting new e-bike fleet to go faster, farther
New bike racks will be less expensive to install and maintain than the old docking stations, and Link expects to announce new hub locations in the not-too-distant future, Estandia said.
When the system reopens, riders will be encouraged to carry wipes to clean Link bikes before climbing aboard to reduce infection risks, Estandia said.
E-bike pricing for walk-up users will be $1 to unlock and 15 cents per minute to operate. But Link annual members will pay a lower per-minute price of 10 cents per minute.
Members will be able to use green pedal bikes up to 80 minutes per day, without additional charges.
Annual membership will be $90, but pre-ordering a Link membership before the system re-launches can come with a $40 to $45 discount.
Pay-as-you-go passes for green bikes will be $1 to unlock and 10 cents per minute.
Day passes will cost $8 for green bikes and $15 for eLink, which provide four hours of ride time. Trips can be paused under this program.
About the Author
