Posted Sep 22, 2023, 5:59 PM
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FYHA
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Houston - Wichita, KS
Posts: 3,152
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M II A II R II K
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Not so fast...
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...r-18377946.php
Quote:
Mayor proposes $500k bailout for BCycle, on brink of bike sharing shutdown
Dug Begley
Sep. 20, 2023
Updated: Sep. 20, 2023 6:24 p.m.
The end of the road for Houston’s bike sharing system might be a little further off into the distance after all, provided a funding boost from the city comes in.
Mayor Sylvester Turner said he will ask the City Council, likely next week, to approve $500,000 in funding for the nonprofit bike system, aimed at keeping it running another public bike rental service is in place.
“I don’t want the end user to lose,” Turner said during the Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
Officials with Houston Bike Sharing said last week that they would begin shutting down the system over the next two months, as operational funds dwindled and a deal with Metropolitan Transit Authority evaporated.
Neeraj Tandon, the nonprofit’s chairman, welcomed the announcement.
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At the same time, METRO is considering launching an initial 20-station bike sharing service early next year.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...photo-22324399
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Metro mulling 20 stations, 140 e-bikes as start of its own shared cycling system
Dug Begley,
Staff Writer
Sep. 21, 2023
Updated: Sep. 22, 2023 9:28 a.m.
A new set of shared bikes could be poised for Houston sidewalks, as Metro officials consider a $10.6 million integration of as-needed cycling into the transit system, starting with 20 stations in early 2024.
The proposal, scheduled for approval next Thursday by the Metropolitan Transit Authority board, would approve a three-year deal with PBSC Urban Solutions, with two annual extensions.
The aim is to use cycling either to connect to places within biking distance or to access frequent transit, Metro CEO Tom Lambert said. Though costs are not finalized, the plan would be to charge a price for the bikes similar to the buses and trains, where a person pays $1.25 for a three-hour block of time.
“If you are starting with a bike and going to a bus, that is one trip,” Lambert said.
Metro moving into the bike business comes as the nonprofit running the existing BCycle system struggles to stay afloat. Houston Bike Share said last week without financial help it would start shutting off more stations and close within two months, but city officials are considering heading that off with a $500,000 commitment.
Mayor Sylvester Turner said the funding would help bridge the time between Metro’s system being operational and BCycle finding firm footing or ceasing to exist.
Leadership of the current system said it welcomed Metro's plan.
″We have long felt that Metro should operate bike share in the city," Neeraj Tandon, the nonprofit’s chairman, said in a statement. "Our goal for years has been to migrate the service to a public utility such as Metro because we know bike share is unsustainable without public funding."
If approved, the proposed system would be similar to the BCycle system for users, but with noticeable differences. The app and payment system will be different and integrated with Metro’s fare system.
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