AUSTIN, Texas — Capital Metro (CapMetro) has approved a plan to significantly update its MetroBike program.
On Tuesday, CapMetro's Board of Directors approved a partnership with PBSC Urban Solutions, Inc. to update and expand MetroBike. The project will cost more than $20 million over five years, and CapMetro said the contract with the new vendor leverages an $11.3 million Transportation Alternative Set-Aside (TASA) grant awarded to the City of Austin last October.
"This is a key piece of the puzzle we need to start building one of the country’s best bikeshare systems,” CapMetro CEO Dottie Watkins said. "This investment in our bike share program will bring better flexibility and access for riders to connect to the larger web of mobility in Austin transit network."
CapMetro said the new contract will enable it to replace and expand the 80 MetroBike stations, 1,000 docks and 800 bicycles focused in downtown, tripping the size of the bike-share system.
The transit agency also has plans to enhance MetroBike by completely transiting the full fleet to e-bikes. Currently, only 43% of the MetroBike fleet are e-bikes and the rest are traditional bicycles.
An agenda for Tuesday's board meeting stated that other planned MetroBike improvements include an upgraded app, a streamlined customer check-in process and anti-theft and anti-tampering technology.
CapMetro said the public will start seeing new bikes and stations beginning to roll out as early as this summer.
CapMetro first launched the MetroBike program in 2013. The transit agency said MetroBike usage has continued to steadily grow since 2019, from less than 5,000 to 12,000 per month during the pandemic. CapMetro said with the addition of e-bikes to the fleet, MetroBike has reached nearly 28,000 monthly trips as of April 2023.
MetroBike also peaks in popularity during major events like the Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) and South By Southwest (SXSW). In 2022, MetroBike reached 37,000 during SXSW and 43,000 during ACL, according to CapMetro.
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