BOSTON, June 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pace, the nationwide dockless bike sharing service for smart cities and colleges, today announced the launch of Pace Parking, its new mobility parking platform designed to support secure, lock-to parking for all dockless mobility vehicles including pedal bikes, e-bikes and electric scooters. Launching in Chicago, Austin and Bloomington this month, and coming to other U.S. cities this year, Pace Parking was designed to support the shift towards lock-to dockless mobility, as evidenced by the growing list of major U.S. cities that have passed lock-to regulations including Chicago, Austin, and Boulder. Lock-to technology ensures dockless vehicles lock safely and securely to fixed objects, not just to themselves, to mitigate the drawbacks of ‘free floating’ dockless models such as theft, damage, vandalism and rights-of-way violations.
Pace is now providing Pace Parking to cities with lock-to regulations, and to private landowners and local businesses in all cities where Pace bike share is operating. Pace’s goal is to ensure communities have the parking infrastructure needed to support and scale tens of thousands of shared mobility vehicles.
“With the meteoric rise of dockless bikes, ebikes and electric scooters in the U.S., our cities are now in the early stages of a massive transformation in how people get around — one as significant as the personal automobile in 20th century,” said Tim Ericson, CEO & Founder of Pace parent, Zagster. “Imagine a city with tens of thousands of cars and nowhere to park them -- this is the huge challenge faced by every major U.S. city right now. Without mobility parking infrastructure, cities have no solution to securely park the flood of new vehicles descending upon their streets and sidewalks, and we are the first company to do something about it. As the pioneer of lock-to dockless bike sharing, we’re proud to deliver the first-ever universal, secure, smart parking platform.”
Lock-to regulations - the requirement that all dockless vehicles lock to something at the end of a rental trip and while idle - have become increasingly important. Chicago and Austin were the first major U.S. cities to establish lock-to regulations to mitigate bike litter, theft, and obstruction of public rights-of-way - the problems that other cities have seen with ‘free floating’ dockless bike and scooter sharing.
Pace Parking ensures that cities with lock-to regulations, such as Chicago and Austin, are equipped to smartly and responsibly scale dockless mobility in the 21st century, allowing these new modes of micro-transit to flourish. It also provides local real estate properties and businesses in these cities with a convenient, affordable way to connect residents and customers to shared mobility services, providing a valuable new micro-transit option to reduce car traffic, improve productivity, and increase economic activity.
“Presidium is currently working to develop Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) strategies for our transit-oriented developments, and parking is an essential element,” said Chris Czichos, Vice President Creative Director at Presidium, a diversified real estate investment and management firm specializing in opportunistic and value-add transactions throughout the United States. “As one of the early real-estate developers working with Zagster to offer mobility parking on our properties, we have found that it is best way to provide an essential amenity and contribute to our goal of supporting all forms of shared mobility.”
“We look forward to partnering with Pace to deploy its Pace Parking platform at the Muze in Austin this year,” said Kristen Penrod, Principal of Parallel Group Co. “We see the promise of their new parking offering through their footprint in past student housing markets across the country and the significant demand for bike sharing options in Austin, especially near the University of Texas’s campus. We’ve seen our relationship with Zagster grow from station-based bike sharing to multi-modal dockless mobility -- providing more flexibility to our residents.”
“Customers have already made good use of the Pace bike share and parking program, and it’s added vibrancy and convenience to our neighborhood,” said John Brand, Owner of Open Outcry Brewing Company in Chicago. “Our Pace Parking rack is located in the parking lot behind our space, and since it was installed, people have been coming and going all day, every day.”
Cities that are interested in bringing Pace Parking to their streets can contact Pace at parking@ridepace.com. Private landowners - including properties, universities and commercial businesses - can apply to get Pace Parking on their properties at no cost by visiting ridepace.com/partner.
Pace is leading the explosive dockless mobility market with its premium Pace bike sharing service, pioneering lock-to technology engineered into its smart bike and parking platform, and proven ability to operate more than 250+ bike share programs across the U.S. Now live in Chicago, Austin, and nine markets altogether, Pace provides all the benefits of dockless bike sharing with none of the drawbacks. Ridership in Pace programs has significantly outperformed dockless bike sharing pilots in some of the largest cities in the U.S. -- a testament to Pace’s unique lock-to model and what it enables for riders: predictable starting points, a higher-quality bike, and the ability to hold a bike during rentals to support more use cases.
About Pace
Pace is the nationwide dockless bike sharing service for smart cities and universities that offers all the benefits of dockless bike sharing, with none of the drawbacks. Powered by Zagster — the U.S. leader in bike sharing, with more than 250 bike shares across 35 states — Pace features a first-of-its-kind bike sharing model that blends predictability and flexibility for riders while preserving order and safety for communities. Pace’s lock-to technology ensures bikes are always secured to fixed objects when not in use, while a mix of intelligently placed bike share parking, plus the freedom of being able to lock Pace bikes to public racks, enables point-to-point travel while ensuring riders can reliably add bike sharing to their daily transit mix.
More information about Pace can be found at ridepace.com.
About Zagster
Founded in 2007, and headquartered in Boston, Mass., Zagster operates more than 200 bike shares across 35 states. Zagster pioneered the smart bike platform that enabled bike sharing to flourish in communities of all types and sizes nationwide. The company’s goal: To make the bike the most loved form of transportation in every community.
More information about Zagster and its programs can be found at www.zagster.com.
Media Contact
Danielle Toboni, Pace public relations, press@ridepace.com, 617.945.1915