Why is Conway refusing 27 free bikes for a downtown bike-share program?

A Conway-based nonprofit bought 27 bikes for a downtown bike share program, but the bikes are now being stored outside and the organization is trying to figure out what to do with them.

The problem? Conway wasn’t planning on a bike-share program.

Conway Cultural Development Corporation President Dennis Stevens said he used $1,300 in funding from The Knight Foundation’s grant to the Waccamaw Community Foundation to buy the Worksman bikes in February off GovDeals.com after they were used in a bike-share program in Oklahoma City.

Stevens said the bikes were part of a Conway Cultural District that his organization has tried to develop, without permission from the city.

“City council has a history of being specifically partial to Conway Downtown Alive and not very sympathetic to the activities that we’re trying to implement in Conway,” he said. Downtown Alive is another Conway nonprofit working to promote the town.

“Rather than ask for permission or blessing, we did something we believed was good for the community,” Stevens said.

In September, Stevens met with Interim City Administrator Adam Emrick, who said the city council would not collaborate with the organization.

“The city would have to agree to partner with the Conway Cultural Development Corporation,” Emrick said, but the city is not planning to work with the nonprofit. “There have been a number of red flags in dealing with this organization,” he said.

Emrick did not elaborate on what those red flags were, but said another problem with the program is cost.

“The bikes are only one portion of the bike share program,” Emrick said. “In this case, they’re the cheapest part.”

The credit-card kiosks used to store the bikes would cost around $10,000 per kiosk, he said.

“It’s like saying here’s the light bulb, now I need a partner to get a lamp,” said Emrick.

Stevens said there are other ways to roll out a bike program, such as bike locks synced up to a mobile app.

But the problem with that, said Emrick, is that “those bikes disappear.”

Stevens plans to reach out to other potential municipal partners.

“Re-branding is definitely a part of the discussion,” said Stevens. “We’ll see where we end up in terms of partners around the state.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Why is Conway refusing 27 free bikes for a downtown bike-share program?."