MARION — Town Planner Gil Hilario received the Selectmen’s approval March 19 to opt into a regional bike share program if he found someone from the Pathways Committee to be responsible for the program.

The Selectmen asked Hilario to look further into the issue at a Feb. 19 meeting, and he appeared before them to present the results of his findings.

The Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) will start and fund the bike share program, which will be open to any of the towns in the Southeast Region. Nearby towns who are current participants include Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, Wareham, and Dartmouth.

SRPEDD provides the shared bikes. Users unlock the bicycles with a smartphone app, and can return them either to bike stands, or leave them anywhere that is public, since the next user can locate the bikes using the app.

At the last meeting, Selectman John Waterman suggested Marion start small with the program and add more bikes if they are popular.

Hilario seemed to have taken his advice to heart, and said the program would likely start with four or five bikes

Another question from the Selectmen had to do with who would take responsibility for the bikes at the Town Hall. Although SRPEDD is technically responsible for the bicycles, Selectmen noted if something went wrong with the bike, citizens will likely call the Marion Town House.

In brainstorming at the meeting, Hilario and the selectmen decided the Pathways committee would be good to oversee the project. The Selectmen then approved the project, subject to the pathways committee taking responsibility for it.

The Board also suggested a webpage on the town website where someone would find an answer to a question about those bikes.