Houston Transit Agency Proposes Bike Share Takeover

According to the Houston Chronicle’s Dug Begley, the region’s Metropolitan Transit Authority could take over Houston’s bike share system. The change could boost efforts to better integrate bike share into the city’s public transit system and provide efficient options for multimodal transportation in more neighborhoods. “The proposal would give the nonprofit and Metro six to nine months to work together on the system and then have Metro officials develop a plan for continuing the bike sharing initiative.”

The system was launched in 2012 and has grown to almost 1,000 bikes and e-bikes and 153 stations. More recently, its future has been under question, with half of stations closed in November to cut costs during the winter. “The hope, At-large Houston City Councilmember Sallie Alcorn said, is that Metro adds to and does not subtract from what already is available and popular with users.” Meanwhile, the agency plans to examine how it can more equitably distribute bikes and stations to neighborhoods that have been overlooked. Sprawling, auto-oriented Houston is building out its bike infrastructure, making an ambitious pledge to add thousands of miles of bike lanes and trails.