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A ride in the park

New bike share program comes to WC, Hamilton County

— Daily Freeman-Journal photos by Anne Blankenship A new bike share program is now available in two Webster City parks and one Hamilton County park. Riders can download the Koloni app from from the app store in order to rent one of the bikes tht have been placed in Brewer Creek Park, Riverside Park and Briggs Woods Park. The app allows riders to unlock and ride the bikes. The rental cost is $1 for 30 minutes and $2 per hour.

There’s a new feature that popped up at Brewer Creek Park last week that will have local residents riding the trails, even if they don’t own a bicycle.

A bike rack now holds several vibrant orange bikes that are available to rent to those wishing to take a spin around the park or around town. Similar racks are also set up at Riverside Park and at Briggs Woods Park.

The bikes are provided by Koloni Inc., a Pocahontas-based technology company that specializes in bike share programs. Fifteen bikes have been divided between the three parks.

Kyle Sheker, of Koloni Inc., proposed the program to the City Council of Webster City in March 2020. Under the proposal, the city and the county would purchase the 15 bike share bicycles and lease the app software from Koloni for two years.

“How it works ’­ and the instructions are on the bikes – the end user just downloads the Koloni app, and then they can scan the QR code on the bike,” Sheker told the council at the time. Users will establish an account and enter a debit or credit card number to complete the transaction.

“The bike will unlock, they can ride it around and then return it,” he said.

The cost to rent one of the bikes is $1 per half hour and $2 per hour.

A user can pick up a bike from one location and return it to one of the other two locations.

“It’s just a great way of getting around town for recreation purposes throughout the community,” Sheker said.

The total cost of the bikes is $7,500, at $500 per bike. The city’s share will be 2/3, or $5,000, and the county’s share is $2,500. The total cost of the two years of software fee is $5,400, with the city covering $3,600, and the county being responsible for $1,800, according to council action in March 2020.

Fore more information on how to download the Koloni app on a smart phone, visit the City of Webster City website, www.webstercity.com.

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