A bike share program is coming to Pella next week.

Numerous community partners, including the City of Pella Community Services Department, Central College, Iowa Bike and Fitness, and the Pella Wellness Consortium, have partnered together to bring VeoRide to the city, which includes 50 bikes placed throughout the community to use for a small fee. The project started from an idea a group of Central College students had after studying in the sustainability education program.

Kris Van Gent with Iowa Bike tells KNIA/KRLS News the new program will allow anyone with the VeoRide app over the age of 13 to rent bikes for use in the area community, as long as they return the bikes to designated parking areas when finished.

“It’s mostly based around a smartphone app, so the first thing you need to go is go to the Apple or Google Play Store and download the VeoRide app,” he says, after which a person will have to set up a profile.

“There’s really basically three steps to ride a bike – 1) you find a bike, which the app will tell you where the closest bike is to you or all the bikes via a map on your phone. Once you find a bike, simply scan a QR code or punch in the code on a bike to unlock it. Once it’s unlocked, you can ride it anywhere.”

He says the program also includes various discounted rates for daily, monthly, and annual passes. VeoRide is maintaining the bikes, with no additional cost to the City of Pella.

On Monday morning, a group of 50 participants will help park the bikes at their designated lots, which Community Services Director Jeanette Vaughan says will be located in most city parks and other points of interest, such as the Molengracht, Aquatic Center, Central Park, and West Market Park.

Hear more about the new Bike Share program in Pella on today’s Let’s Talk Pella