Action Alert: Ask Council to Support Red Bike
The Red Bike board has voted to permanently shutdown Red Bike. Message city council and encourage them to support Red Bike.
The form below will send your comments directly to city council – below the submission form we also have more information summarizing the benefits of Redbike. (in short: 1. Thirty-six percent of Red Bike riders are low-income people 2. Cycling is a sustainable mode of transportation 3. Cycling has many health benefits 4. Red Bike is cheaper than buying a personal bike 5. Car ownership is declining in urban areas).
Please submit the form above with your own comments to city council. Make sure to ask them to:
Assemble a new board of directors more capable of fundraising
Create a fundraising strategy for long-term stability
Keep the bike infrastructure in the ground
Prevent the infrastructure and hardware from being sold
Get Red Bike rolling within the riding season
On December 19th, 2023, the public was told Red Bike will pause regular operations. Red Bike has paused and reopened before, in 2020. People trusted that this service would return. But the Red Bike board voted to close the service permanently.
Like all public transportation options, system revenue alone cannot sustain Red Bike operations. Significant contributions from corporate and private sponsors as well as local and federal grants have enabled the Red Bike system to reach this point.
We need to continue this support.
Red Bike is Cincinnati’s only non-profit station-based bike share system. The small, local team connects people to places and to each other by providing a low-cost, green transportation option. They offer low income individuals access to unlimited rides for as little as five dollars a month.
Red Bike partners with communities to improve lives through bikes. Shared micro-mobility through a station-based, non-profit bike share program is a core and critical component of transportation in the Cincy region, and as such deserves stable and continued public investment and support. Transportation systems, including roads, airports, buses, and rail systems, are typically funded by taxpayer subsidies rather than user fees.
People want to ride bikes. Red Bike had an exceptional 2023 with a record-setting over 140,000 rides.
Cycling is a sustainable mode of transportation that can reduce your carbon footprint.
Cycling is cheaper than owning a car and paying for gas, parking, and insurance.
Red Bike is cheaper than buying a personal bike. Specifically, using a Red Bike e-bike is a lot cheaper than purchasing a market rate e-bike.
Thirty-six percent of Red Bike riders are low-income people who use the service to get around the bike share system’s service area or fill in the last mile between Metro and their final destination.
Cycling has many health benefits as a low-impact exercise, including but not limited to: cardiovascular strength, joint mobility, and social connection.
Car ownership is declining in urban areas and the city must provide transport options for all.
