WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The City of Wausau’s Parks and Recreation Committee has voted to enter into a two-year contract with Michigan-based Tandem Mobility to run the city’s bike-share program, which was briefly implemented last year before the pandemic halted operations.
City and County Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Director Jamie Polley says she’s reached a two-year agreement with the company that would see the city pay just over $25,000 to the company in exchange for the digital infrastructure to run the program and maintenance of the bikes and bike stands. She described the deal as “turn-key.”
“We [just] need a company to come in and put their own app to it, their own locking system on it. They provide all of that,” said Polley.
She brought the matter to the committee because the city currently has $16,550 at the Community Foundation that was earmarked for the second year of the contract with Zagster, which was never paid. There’s also $4,500 from the Zagster settlement which could be applied towards the new program. That leaves the city about $4,100 short of the full cost of the two-year contract, which she says could be made up by funding or grants from other foundations.
“I don’t want to commit the city to something that we don’t have fully funded, but we do feel very confident that we could apply for another grant for that $4,100 and we have a year to do it. We don’t have to pay the two years up front,” she added.
The cost breaks down to $13,900 for year one, including just over $800 in one-time fees for logos and other branding on the bikes and stations. That also includes a $1,800 fee for contracts less than three years, which could be deducted from a 3rd year if the city chooses to stick with Tandem Mobility that long.
The second year of the contract is $11,250 for just the program maintenance alone.
The setup would work exactly like Zagster’s, where residents or visitors could rent the bike through a smartphone app, then scan a barcode at the station to unlock the bike. When they’re done riding, they can return it to either of the two bike stations and the fees will be charged to their debit or credit card.
The city already owns nine bikes that were purchased through the liquidation auction. Polley says there were originally ten bikes, but one has gone missing. That bike was not included in the purchase price for the other nine.
Maintenance on the bikes would be done by Tandem Mobility at no cost to the city. Should a bike need to be replaced there is a chance that could come at an extra cost based on the circumstances. Also included in the contract are insurance, account management, and marketing.
The proposals passed the committee unanimously. Chair Pat Peckham said he doesn’t see how the city could find a more competitive bid than what was presented Monday evening.
“I don’t know that we are going to get an opportunity to try something like this for less money. I don’t know what would happen after the inital period, but I think we should go for this.”
The full proposal will now go to the full Council for a vote on Tuesday, May 11th.
Polley adds that staff did consider other options such as having the city run the bike-share program on its own or contracting for other areas of service, but they decided the best option would be to contract for the entire program.
