Okay, almost 100,000. Still impressive.
Houston’s growing bike sharing system – poised for a big 2016 – nearly pulled off 100,000 checkouts last year.
After adding two stations in the last weeks of the year, bringing the total to 31 kiosks and 190 bicycles, Houston B-Cycle logged 98,388 uses, according to organizers of the system. People can check out a bike with a pass – daily, weekly or annual – and use the bike without charge for 60 minutes. After that, the bike costs $4 per hour.
Usually, the point is to ride between two spots and not incur fees. Another bicycle can be checked out immediately.
From just three stations in early 2013, the system has grown in popularity and offerings. In a news release Tuesday, officials estimated the use of the bikes has led to 612,781 miles of travel – based on average travel times and the duration of all trips – leading to 24.4 million calories burned by riders.
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B-Cycle is planning a far larger expansion that will bring bikes and stations to the Texas Medical Center and Rice Village, then eventually to the Texas Southern University and University of Houston area. When completed, the system will have 100 stations and 800 bicycles.
See here for more on that expansion. You can tell B-Cycle where you think these new kiosks should go with their B-Cycle Station Suggestion Mapping Tool. Register and make comments on existing and proposed station locations; you can also use the tool as “anonymous”, though it’s not clear to me what if any functionality you lose by doing that. I don’t know how long this feedback period will be in effect, so get going and tell them where the bikes should be now. Thanks to Swamplot for the tip.