Cincinnati Launching a 35-Station Bike-Share System Next Month

This hasn’t been a great year for bike-share launches in America, with the dominant operator, Alta Bicycle Share, struggling with supply chain problems. But there will be a new system coming online soon.

Cincinnati will launch a bike-share system using the B-Cycle platform in the next few weeks, reports Randy Simes at Urban Cincy. The city recently cleared some of the final hurdles, and the initial batch of stations is on the way:

Queen City Bike says that the process will move quickly, with two to three stations being installed daily until all 35 stations planned for Downtown and Uptown are built. At the same time, there will be a volunteer effort to assemble the system’s 300 bikes.

“We hope to assemble at least 200 bike share bikes by Friday,” said Frank Henson, President of Queen City Bike, and member of Cincy Bike Share’s Board of Trustees. “This is being done by area volunteer mechanics under the supervision of B-Cycle.”

The aggressive schedule puts the system on track to open by early September, which is not far off the initial goal of opening by August.

The progress comes after Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley (D) announced $1.1 million to more than half of the initial $2 million in upfront capital costs. At the time, Cincy Bike Share director, Jason Barron, said the commitment from the City of Cincinnati was critical in not only getting things moving, but also showing the private sector that it is all for real.

One strange aspect of the Cincinnati network is the gap between two clusters of stations. Simes says the two areas “will most likely operate in isolation of one another.” It’s unclear if Cincinnati intends to fill in this gap. After the first 35 stations, the system is expected to expand across the Ohio River to northern Kentucky.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Bike Portland shares a prediction from former Chicago and DC transportation commissioner Gabe Klein, who says driverless cars will eliminate the need for parking in downtown areas. NextSTL explains why Missouri’s proposed sales tax hike for transportation went down in flames. And Better Cities & Towns notes that some Houston suburbs are embracing placemaking.