Announced yesterday, Hoboken, Jersey City and Weehawken will launch a regional bike share system this summer. With 800 smart-bikes, 50 bike stations and two full-service pavilions (one in Hoboken, the other in Jersey City), it is slated to be the largest “next-generation” bike share system in North America.

The program will be operated by Bike and Roll and it comes at no cost to the three cities. In addition to user fees (annual, weekly and daily memberships will be offered), revenue sources will include sponsorships and advertising. The cities will receive a percentage of profits after capital expenditures have been recouped.

Elected leaders from all three cities embraced the idea of bringing a bike share system to their cities in order to expand transportation choice, improve air quality and relieve congestion and parking demand. Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer called bike share “an affordable, sustainable, and convenient transportation option,” while Jersey City Mayor Steven M. Fulop sees bike share as a way to improve the bikeability of his city:

We’re proud to take this step toward a greener, more bike friendly Jersey City. Providing a new transportation option throughout the city while simultaneously reducing pollution, traffic congestion and demand for parking is a home run, especially given that that it won’t cost the taxpayers a cent. We believe this system will be a model for others throughout the nation.

Weehawken Councilwoman Rosemary Lavagnino concurred with both Mayor Zimmer and Mayor Fulop, praising the bike share system’s ability to “allow residents to leave their cars at home while still giving them access to Weehawken and their neighboring communities.”

The system will use Nextbike‘s Cruiser Comfort bike, which is a sturdy, internally-geared bike, not unlike New York’s Citi Bikes. The key difference is Nextbike’s built-in “smart lock”, which allows bikes to be locked anywhere — not only at docking stations. Hoboken used a similar type of bike for its six-month pilot bike share program in 2013.

The bike share program’s launch, however, is contingent upon the approval of the contract award by all three cities. No word yet on when voting is expected.