Critical funding from the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Policy Council will expand the size of Houston's B-Cycle bikeshare system. The investment is intended to attract more users.
"The same transportation improvement plan aiming $140 million at I-45 includes $4.7 million meant to expand the B-Cycle program in the city," reports Dug Begley. The proposal will be under review this Friday by the Houston-Galveston Area Council's (HGAC) Transportation Policy Council.
The money could find a substantial increase in the size of the B-Cycle system, reports Begley—from 29 stations with 210 bikes to 100 stations with 800 bikes. "The money, including a 21 percent match from B-Cycle, will add stations in the Texas Medical Center and Rice Village in one phase, increase density in the downtown and Midtown area from the Med Center in another, before expanding east and southeast to EaDo and the University of Houston and Texas Southern University area," according to Begley.
Begley also notes that bikes attract a relatively paltry share of HGAC's transportation funding—though in 2016 the agency could fund another $3 million for a Texas Department of Transportation project to add bike trails along Buffalo Bayou east of McKee Street.
FULL STORY: Bike sharing program poised for major expansion
Houston Metro Abandons Bike Share in Favor of On-Demand Microtransit
The agency failed to include funding for bike share in its 2025 budget proposal.
Houston Will Be Largest US City Without Bike Share
The city’s bike share system will cease operations at the end of June.
Regional Government Reform on the Ballot in Houston
If Proposition B passes, Houston and other populous areas could gain more voting power in the region’s metropolitan planning organization.
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?
How Trump's HUD Budget Proposal Would Harm Homelessness Response
Experts say the change to the HUD budget would make it more difficult to identify people who are homeless and connect them with services, and to prevent homelessness.
The Vast Potential of the Right-of-Way
One writer argues that the space between two building faces is the most important element of the built environment.
Florida Seniors Face Rising Homelessness Risk
High housing costs are pushing more seniors, many of them on a fixed income, into homelessness.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont