[Wattleigh]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

[B]We have to shut down BCycle. It breaks our hearts

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opi...n-18367512.php

Houston City Council has approved temporary funding for BCycle. Should bridge the gap until METRO's Bikesharing service is in place.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/houston-bike-sharing-bcycle-500k-18391859.php

On the brink of collapse, Houston approves $500K to save BCycle bike sharing system

Dug Begley,
Staff writer
Sep. 27, 2023
Updated: Sep. 27, 2023 11:44 a.m.

Houston’s floundering bike sharing system has a little more life, after city officials approved $500,000 to keep the system operational, at least until a new system for checking out bicycles is in place.

“There are a lot of people who use the service and we don’t want them to lose the service,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

City Council approved the money Wednesday from Houston’s general fund, aimed at giving the nonprofit Houston Bike Share a few more months of funding to keep roughly 60 kiosks and the bikes held there operational. Houston’s planning department will work with the nonprofit to decide how the money will be spent and formalize an agreement with the nonprofit.

Four council members – Mike Knox, Michael Kubosh, Amy Peck and Mary Nan Huffman – opposed committing the money.

“In my view we are investing in a failing corporation,” Knox said.

The money allows the nonprofit BCycle to continue to existing, which was on the verge of collapse without finding additional money, until a new bike checkout system controlled by Metro debuts. The Metropolitan Transit Authority board is expected Thursday to approve a $10.6 million contract with a new vendor for a bike sharing system aligned with transit in the area.

If approved, Metro’s system would start with 20 stations and 140 pedal-assisted e-bikes in the first year, and add 20 stations and more bikes annually for five years.