There are signs that Houston's car-centric culture is changing. Halfway through the year, 2017 has already been the busiest year yet for Houston's bicycle rental program BCycle. Five additional locations opened in June alone, bringing the total station count to 42, with 330 bikes. Houston BCycle riders have completed 77,183 trips so far in 2017, a 40% increase in trips over the same time period last year. The program also saw a 52% increase in users.
BCycle will eventually deliver 71 new stations and 600+ bikes, tripling the size of the network. The growth comes after the City’s Planning and Development Department sponsored a Houston-Galveston Area Council grant from the Federal Highway Administration, covering $3.5M of the cost of expanding the system. Houston Bike Share, the local nonprofit that operates the Houston BCycle program, is responsible for a 20% match on all expansion costs and is working with local funding partners.
This July, BCycle will open locations at the Health Museum, Washington & TC Jester and Gateway on Cullen. In August, it will install eight stations on the Rice University campus as well as stations at Hermann Park’s McGovern Centennial Gardens and HCC Central Campus.
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