Cincy Bike Share, now officially Red Bike, is getting thisclose to
operation. As of today, six of the bike racks are in place.

They are at Fountain Square, the Freedom Center, City Hall, Sawyer
Point, Great American Ball Park and the Aronoff Center.

But the bikes are not in place. Not yet. Eventually 35 stations
holding
260 bikes will dot Downtown, Over-the-Rhine and Uptown.

So what is Red Bike exactly? Well, it's a bike share program. It's
like
a taxi for people looking for short trips around town. Or a bus. A
user
will be able to take a bike from one spot and go to another. Imagine
you are in your office downtown, and you need to get to a lunch in
Over-the-Rhine. You can ride a bike. Or if you have an early dinner
and
want to get down to a Reds game. You can ride a bike.

Just take a bike from one rack, and park it at another. The racks
will
be placed strategically to promote usage.

Tlike a good idea to me. And people who study this stuff.

In 2012, Cincinnati's Department of Transportation and Engineering
conducted a feasibility study that pointed to the urban core because
of
its population density, the mixture of housing and businesses and a
supportive environment.

"The Downtown/OTR area makes for a logical first deployment of bike
sharing in Cincinnati. ... Redevelopment in these areas has also
shown
a commitment to healthy and active lifestyles."

The study also liked Downtown's slow traffic, generally flat
topography
and well-connected streets.and pay attention, because as a person
who rides Downtown pretty
frequently, I can tell you cars and their drivers can do surprising
things. And helmets will not be part of the rental.

Red Bike has not determined the cost structure yet for day-fees for
an
annual membership, Barron said. That will be determined soon, as the
program should be up and riding sometime in September.

This spring, Mayor John Cranley proposed $1.1 million for the
program.
The City Council approved the money and things got moving quickly.

Up next for the rack locations are Horseshoe Casino, the Duke Energy
Center and eventually near the University of Cincinnati and the
hospital complex.

"We've been working hard over the last few years to add bike lanes
throughout the city, which tends to encourage new riders and make
people feel safer riding in the street," said Mel McVay, a Senior
City
Planner with the City of Cincinnati Department of Transportation &
Engineering. "Bike share is another important piece of that puzzle.
The
convenience of a bike share system opens up bicycling as an option for
people who maybe would like to be using a bike to get around, but
haven't yet taken that first step."

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news...-otr/14061133/

"It's a system of transportation. It's not bike rental," said Jason
Barron, executive director of Red Bike told the paper when first
announcing the program. "It will fit in with taxis and the bus and
the
streetcar."

And riding in the city is fun. Just follow the rules in place for
cars
he idea is that it will be fast and easy and save the environment and

you will not need to find a parking place. Each one of those sounds

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