Zagster’s mBike Bike Share for the University of Maryland and The City of College Park wins ACT National Award

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 07, 2017 -- Zagster, the North American leader in public and public/private bike sharing, today announced that mBike — its bike share program for the University of Maryland and The City of College Park — has won the Association for Commuter Transportation’s National Award for Commuter Options: Bicycling. Bestowed annually, the award recognizes an exemplary program, policy, or service that advances creative commuting options in the biking space and that is “focused on improving the quality of life of commuters, the livability of communities, and economic growth of businesses.”

Launched in May 2016, the mBike program was intended to provide easy access to biking and its many benefits; to fill gaps in the local transportation system; and to give people an easy way to get to and from the Metro, as well as around campus, all without increasing cars on the roads. The program has since proven to be wildly successful, notching more than 24,000 rides in under a year and, due to strong demand, expanding in multiple phases including, most recently, into the neighboring municipality of University Park.

Unlike other programs in which riders must drop off bikes at designated stations for every stop, one of the most popular and distinguishing features about Zagster programs is that the built-in lock on every bike gives users the freedom to ride as long as they want, wherever they want. This hybrid model, which blends dockless locking for mid-trip stops with fixed station locations for beginning and ending rides, allows users to plan their trips around their destinations — and not around station locations.

“This award furthers Zagster’s reputation as a proven provider of bike shares tailored to achieve the unique goals of communities everywhere,” said Zagster CEO Tim Ericson. “We are honored to receive this recognition, and are eager to continue striving toward our mission to make biking the most loved form of transportation — for commuting, for errands and for the fun of it.”

About Zagster
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Zagster is the largest and fastest-growing bike-share provider in the United States. Zagster operates more than 160 bike share programs in 35 states across North America and specializes in making bike sharing available in areas where traditional bike share providers can't reach. Unlike other programs in which riders must drop off bikes at designated stations for every stop, Zagster’s programs give users the freedom to ride as long as they want, wherever they want. And because Zagster manages all aspects of its programs — from bikes and technology, to maintenance and marketing — Zagster partners can create and deploy scalable bike-share systems that best suit their needs and work within their budgets.

More information about Zagster and its programs can be found at  www.zagster.com

Media contact for Zagster 
Jon Terbush, Zagster communications manager
617.681.4914, [email protected]