DEPARTMENT: Center City Development and Operations
DEPARTMENT HEAD: John Jacks
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT:
A briefing on the findings and recommendations of the Bike Share Working Group
SUMMARY:
City staff created a Bike Share Working Group (the "Working Group") in January 2020 to develop recommendations regarding the future of a bike share program in San Antonio. The creation of the Working Group grew from a request for funding and assistance by San Antonio Bike Share, the entity the City contracts with to provide bike share services. The Working Group has worked to understand the budget and operations of San Antonio Bike Share, looked at case studies of comparable cities, and discussed the state of bike share nationally. This briefing will provide an overview of the Working Group's report and recommendations.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The City maintains a contract for the continuous operation and maintenance of the bike share program with San Antonio Bike Share, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. As approved by Council, the agreement is renewed administratively on an annual basis. The City does not contribute any funding towards the organization's operations.
San Antonio Bike Share has an agreement with BCycle, a national bike share operator affiliated with Trek. Locally, they operate 65 bike share stations and roughly 550 bikes, including 189 pedal assist e-bikes that were recently added to their vehicle fleet. The City owns all of the related equipment (docks, bikes, and stations), which have been purchased with funding from state and federal grants.
On October 4, 2019, San Antonio Bike Share informed CCDO of the early cancellation of its title sponsorship agreement with Southwest General Hospital. The termination of the agreement was effective on December 31, 2019. This loss of a title sponsor has created a significant funding issue within San Antonio Bike Share's operating budget. In addition, San Antonio Bike Share f...
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