Austin B-Cycle, the nonprofit arm of a three-year-old city bike-sharing program, will expand its program to meet the demands of its success, according to a report on KEYE-TV’s website.
The plans on adding 18 bike rental stations (kiosk) and 125 of red bicycles over the next year and a half, reports the Austin American-Statesman’s Ben Wear. On Thursday, according to KEYE, the Austin City Council approved a new five-year, $805,033 contract with the company, which will allow the addition of the bikes and stations.
According to Wear, the contract does not require funding with with city taxes. He also reported that the expansion would adding new stations in the South Lakeshore Boulevard area, Clarksville, and the Lake Austin Boulevard area just west of MoPac Boulevard.
KEYE’s Courtney Schoenemann reported that B-Cyle received a $644,027 grant covered to cover 80 percent of the expansion, with the balance coming from private sponsorships.
Austin B-Cycle’s Nicholas Olivier told Schoenemann that the company estimates it will have 200,000 trips this year, 10 percent more than in 2015.
• B-cycle to expand in Austin [KEYE]
• Austin B-cycle, with rentals on the rise, adding bikes and stations [AAS]