Lower Merion committee backs Indigo Bikeshare pilot with 45 docks and 22 e-bikes

The Lower Merion Economic Development Committee on July 29 recommended that the Board of Commissioners approve an agreement to expand Philadelphia’s Indigo Bikeshare into the township at three pilot locations: Pencoid Landing, Bala and Belmont. The committee was told the pilot would include 45 docking points and 22 electric bikes and would connect into the existing Philadelphia Indigo system.

“We are going to have 45 docking points with 22 electric bikes,” Libby Horowitz, the township’s economic development specialist, said while outlining the program and its funding. Libby said the township would front $150,000 to purchase bikes and docking equipment; that amount will be reimbursable through a Montco 2040 grant and supplemented by matching fees from three property owners totaling about $12,000.

Nate Bowman Johnson, general manager of Indigo Bikeshare’s operator Bicycle Transit Systems, described the expansion as the first Indigo deployment outside Philadelphia and framed it as an early step toward a regional network. “This is the first step in that direction,” Bowman Johnson said, noting the system’s operator will handle maintenance and liability under separate agreements with each property owner.

Committee members asked about long-term planning and whether the pilot implied a commitment to larger build-out. Staff said no five‑ or ten‑year township expansion plan exists yet and that the pilot’s three property-owner agreements are a precondition to installation. The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval to the full Board of Commissioners.