ST. PETERSBURG, FL (WFLA) — The City of St. Petersburg’s Coast Bike Share program will begin hub installations this Thursday, ahead of the system’s soft launch. The soft launch system will include 100 demo bicycles and 10 hubs along the waterfront and Central Avenue corridor.
The 10 hub locations are as follows:
· Bay Shore Dr. & 5th Ave N.
· 2nd Ave NE at the Cross Bay Ferry Terminal within the Dolphin Parking Lot
· 1st Street & 1st Ave S.
· 1st Street & 5th Ave S.
· 2nd Street & 1st Ave N.
· 1st Ave S. & 3rd Street
· 1st Ave S. & 8th Street
· 11th Street N. & Central Ave
· Central Ave & 21st Street
· 2nd Street & 6th Ave S.
Coast will open the demo system mid-day on November 1, with 100 green bikes, part of their corporate fleet made available to coincide with the launch of the Cross Bay Ferry. With a single membership, Coast bikes will be available on both ends of your ferry journey. Shortly after the New Year, 300 blue, city-owned Coast Bikes will be launched across more than 30 stations in downtown and the immediately surrounding neighborhoods. The additional locations will be made available following completion of the ongoing permitting process.
Coast has also relaunched its website, CoastStPete.com, parallel to the St. Petersburg roll out. There, you can follow the progress, sign up to ride and view hub locations. As of today, St. Petersburg residents are able to register for Founding Memberships, a yearly pass including Coast Swag and 90 minutes of daily ride time, 30 minutes more than the traditional annual membership. Founding memberships cost $99, which breaks down to just 27 cents a day, and are available through the end of the year.
Other membership options include the Annual Memberships with 60 minutes of daily ride time at $79, Monthly memberships at $15 and $20 including 60 and 90 minutes of ride time per day, as well as a Pay As You Go option billed at $8 an hour for visitors. As bike share is designed to function as transportation, ride time can be broken up however a user sees fit throughout their day. This could be 5 minutes in the morning to a coffee shop, 20 minutes to commute, 10 minutes to lunch, and you’d still have 25 minutes left to explore the city.