Updated 01/16/2013 10:04 AM
Bike sharing program to go before Austin City Council
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The City of Austin hopes that in a few months, more people will take to two wheels on downtown streets.
Thursday night, Austin’s Bicycle Advisory Council continued work toward putting 400 rental bikes on city streets in a program called Bike Share.
Riders would be able to buy a membership and then rent a bike from one of many kiosks across town.
In San Antonio, the city offers a similar program where riders can purchase a year membership for about 60 dollars.
Austin’s project is being paid for with a $2 million grant received last year from Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization—$1.5 million of which is from federal funds and the rest from private donors.
"The program really incentivizes short trips, so we want to encourage people to take the bus to work and then once you get here you can ride your bike to lunch or ride your bike on an errand," Nadia Barrera with the Bicycle Advisory Council said.
They will go before Council on Thursday to discuss and execute the contract between the city and the private partner.
Contracts for the bikes and kiosks are expected to be complete at the end of February.