Blue skies, blue shirts, blue bicycles.

Nearly everywhere you looked last week at the Eugene Water & Electric Board River Edge Public Plaza, something blue could be seen.

That’s because PeaceHealth Rides launched its new bicycle rental program at the plaza, where more than 100 people gathered to check out the new, bright blue fleet of bicycles and celebrate a new mode of transportation available to the public.

A total of 300 bicycles have been distributed to 36 docking stations around downtown Eugene, the Whiteaker neighborhood and the University of Oregon as part of the program. Long lines of the hefty-looking blue bicycles lined the south bank path of the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Trail, where cyclists later took them for a spin.

“They’re pretty heavy,” said Joshua Skov, who was riding one of the bikes. “I love the basket — it can hold a lot of pretty heavy cargo, and the system is great. It’s a smooth ride and easy to use, too.”

Skov said he mostly loved the bicycles, but his one concern was that they might be “too much” for a smaller person or an inexperienced rider.

How to rent

Cyclists can rent the bikes and ride them anywhere after registering for an account with the program on a smartphone application or the PeaceHealth Ride website. It costs $1 for the first 15 minutes of using the bike and 10 cents per minute after that to rent each bicycle. Cyclists also can purchase a $15 monthly pass, which includes a 60-minute daily ride and costs 10 cents per mile after that.

The Eugene bike rental program also offers a discount rate to UO students: The first 15 minutes are free; after that, the students pay 10 cents per minute. Students also can purchase a $5 monthly membership that includes 60 minutes per day riding. After that hourlong ride, it’s 10 cents per minute.

The program also offers reduced fare options through nonprofit partners in the area, such as YMCA, ShelterCare and Cornerstone.

When finished riding the bikes, people can return them to a docking station or any approved bike rack in the system area, which is indicated in a gray-shaded map on peacehealthrides.com.

If bikes are dropped off outside the marked area, the renter is charged a $25 fee, as crews then have to go find the bicycle and pick it up.

Users are encouraged to use helmets, but helmets don’t come with the Eugene system and aren’t a requirement. Oregon law requires any bicyclist younger than 16 to wear a bicycle helmet.

Program partners say the “bike sharing” service provides an alternative and affordable method of transportation, health benefits and is good for the planet.

Several community members, including Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis; Susan Blane, PeaceHealth Oregon’s director of community health; and Kris Winter, associate vice president and dean of students at the University of Oregon, spoke at April 19’s sunny event.

The program works as a partnership between PeaceHealth, JUMP Bikes, Lane Transit District, the city of Eugene and the University of Oregon. Vinis said the new program will help the city to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, ease traffic problems and provide transportation to all citizens, while Blane stressed the importance of exercise and recited statistics about how many calories can be burned while biking.

Cost of the program

The city announced the program in fall 2016, to be funded with $1.3 million in public money covering startup and capital costs. The bulk of the money, more than $900,000, comes from an Oregon Department of Transportation grant; another nearly $200,000 comes from the Associated Students of the University of Oregon.

The ODOT grant mostly paid for the bikes and their docking stations. Each bicycle features a solar-powered computer on the back that allows riders to check in, log into their account, track distance, pay for their rental, and report any maintenance or malfunctions. Each bike also has a basket to carry belongings while traveling.

In addition, PeaceHealth has agreed to sponsor the program and pay $300,000 per year for the first three years.

Lindsey Hayward, program general manager for JUMP Bikes in Eugene, said the hope is that the program will eventually be self-sustaining through user fees.

Some haters

The bike rental program already has faced one problem: graffiti.

At least one docking station in the Whiteaker neighborhood was defaced with black spray paint shortly after it was installed.

But it didn’t stay damaged for long.

Josh Kashinsky, a University of Oregon parking and transportation employee who was at the launch party, said he spent a couple of hours scrubbing the vandalism after he found a posting about it on social media.

“It just made me kind of angry, you know?” he said standing in the plaza wearing a blue PeaceHealth Rides shirt. “We just got these things, and people are already defacing them?” Kashinsky said when he saw it, he talked with bike rental officials and got permission to clean it.

Then he pulled out some graffiti-removal wipes and went to town.