Houston could have two bike share programs soon
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Houston could see a brand-new bike share system within the next six months.
Why it matters: The Bayou City is now on track to have two competing bike share programs unless city leaders can see eye to eye about the future of bike share in Houston.
Driving the news: The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is considering creating its own $10.5 million bike share network separate from the existing — and struggling — Houston BCycle system.
Catch up quick: Houston Bike Share — the nonprofit that runs BCycle — announced last weekend it would be shutting down service in two months amid financial woes.
- But Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday proposed sending $500,000 to BCycle, with stations scattered throughout the Inner Loop, to keep it afloat for another year. That vote will happen this Wednesday, Turner said.
Yes, but: The day after that vote, Metro board members will vote on approving a contract with PBSC Urban Solutions, which operates bike share programs across the globe — including in New York City, Boston and Pittsburgh.
Details: Metro wants to initially install 20 transit-adjacent stations with 140 e-bikes within six months.
- The program will expand in the following years, adding more bikes and stations to the fleet.
- BCycle, by contrast, owns more than 150 stations — although only roughly 60 are currently operational due to financial constraints.
The intrigue: No matter where the bikes come from, BikeHouston executive director Joe Cutrufo — who was a member of PBSC-based bike share systems in both Boston and New York — said Houstonians deserve a "fully functioning" bike share system.
What they're saying: "But with only 20 stations, [Metro will] have to be really strategic on how they're sited if the goal is to expand the footprint of the transit system," Cutrufo tells Axios.
Meanwhile, Metro doesn't see a problem with two systems operating over each other in the city.
- "Both operating in the space is no sin," George Fotinos, Metro's chief financial officer, told public safety, customer service and operations committee members Thursday. "We are fully promoting multimodalism in our region. One does not preclude the other."
Between the lines: With Turner's time as mayor coming to an end, the future of the city's support for BCycle beyond the proposed $500,000 will be up to the next mayor and City Council after the November election.
- Houston's mayoral candidates will meet with the public at 10am Saturday to talk about the future of transportation under their watch at Architecture Center Houston.