Former bikeshare dock at Princeton Town Hall, 400 Witherspoon Street. (click to expand)

The bikeshare dock next to Community Park Pool at Princeton Town Hall has been removed. The dock previously held six ‘Zagster’ bicycles, which were available for borrowing by members of the local bikeshare program, which was set up in November 2014. A spokesperson from the company confirmed that the bikes had been removed because of a lack of funding.

The Zagster bike-sharing program was set up by Princeton University. Earlier this year, the University revealed that the bikes are used for approximately 700 rides per week. The University considers the success of the bikeshare program to be one reason for a recent decline in ridership of the ‘Tiger Transit’ shuttle bus program.

Zagster bikeshare bikes at Princeton Town Hall in August 2019. (click to expand)

The town of Princeton originally planned to expand the bikeshare program to more locations throughout the town. In 2016, the municipal Engineering Department was awarded a federal grant worth $192,000 to add 5 new bikeshare stations. Although the University has continued to expand bikeshare on its campus, the proposed stations in the town have never appeared, and the elimination of the bikeshare dock at Princeton Town Hall suggests that there is not much support for the program.

Mayor Lempert looks forward to new bikeshare stations in Princeton in 2016. (click to expand)

Bikeshare is still available at many locations on the Princeton University campus, including the University’s property on Chambers Street. A dock also remains at Princeton Shopping Center, which is funded by the proprietor, Edens Inc. Membership in the program costs $20, which provides free use of any of the bikeshare bicycles for up to 2 hours at a time. More details are available at the Zagster Princeton website, here.