__NOTOC__ Red Bike is a public

bicycle sharing system A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost. The programmes themselves include bo ...

using B-cycle that serves parts of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and Northern Kentucky with 50 bike stations. The system opened to the public in September 2014 with 35 stations and 260 bikes, and operates with 442 bikes out of 57 stations as of June 2018.

History

With a recommendation from the Cincinnati Bike Share Feasibility Study completed in September 2012, Cincinnati installed Phase 1 of the Red Bike system in the downtown, OTR and Uptown neighborhoods which opened to the public in September 2014. An expansion of the system was completed in the summer of 2015 which increased the size from 35 stations to 50 stations. The expansion added 11 new stations to Northern Kentucky, making it the first bike share system in Kentucky, and added 4 stations in other areas of Cincinnati. During July 2016 six new stations were added to the system. The initial cost of setting up Cincy Red Bike was approximately US$2 million. The city of Cincinnati provided $1.1 million with the rest of the capital coming from private funding. As of July, 2022, Red Bike had grown to 59 bike share stations and more than 500 publicly-shared bicycles. The system had its 100,000th ride early October, 2015 (a year and a few weeks after the system opened). Red bike cincy foto by andy hemmer

The bikes

The bicycles are

utility bicycle A utility bicycle, city bicycle, urban bicycle, European city bike (ECB), Dutch bike, classic bike or simply city-bike, is a bicycle designed for frequent very short, very slow rides through very flat urban areas. It is a form of utility bicycle ...

s with a unisex step-through frame. Their one-piece aluminum frame and handlebars conceal cables and fasteners in an effort to protect them from vandalism and inclement weather.

Payment

24-hour daily ($10) passes are sold through Red Bike docking stations. The annual membership rate is $100. Residents of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky who receive food or energy assistance, or are clients of one of Red Bike's partner organizations, qualify for a $5 monthly pass called Red Bike Go. Trips using these passes are limited to 2 hours for daily and annual passes, before extra fees kick in. All payments are by credit card, with the exception of Red Bike Go monthly passes which may be purchased with cash in person at outreach events or by appointment at the Red Bike Shop.

History

The bikes

Payment

See also