The Cincinnati bikeshare program Red Bike will shut down Jan. 12, with plans to reopen a few months later.
Executive Director Doug McClintock tells WVXU the nonprofit had its most successful year ever in 2023, with nearly 140,000 rides. But a significant budget deficit means they can't afford to stay open through the winter.
"In January and February our revenue is very, very down because people aren't riding," he said. "This is the point of time the least number of folks will be affected and gives us the opportunity to launch [again] strong in the spring."
User fees have never been enough to operate Red Bike. McClintock says that's typical for a transit system like this, especially since 33% of rides in 2023 were from low-income residents enrolled in the Red Bike Go monthly membership, with a discounted $5 fee. McClintock says there were about 245 Go members this year, with 65 active right now.
RELATED: Red Bike approaches 10 years, with an eye on equity
Red Bike has 645 active annual members and 157 active monthly members. McClintock says anyone with a monthly or annual membership should contact Red Bike to extend their pass or ask for a refund. Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis, he says.
Red Bike announced less than a month ago that prices will increase starting Jan. 1:
- 2-hour passes will be $12 (up from $10)
- Monthly passes will be $30 (up from $18)
- Annual passes will be $150 (up from $100)
The real budget issue is losing the biggest revenue source; UC Health decided not to renew its sponsorship contract when the agreement expired at the end of June.
"UC Health has been an absolute critical supporter of us ... we wouldn't be anywhere near as successful if we had not had their support," McClintock told WVXU. "But unfortunately, they were unable to renew their support this year. And our efforts to try to find someone else in the corporate giving world to step into that space have unfortunately been unsuccessful."
Another nonprofit — the Devou Good Foundation — offered $50,000 last week, contingent on Red Bike raising another $100,000 in private donations and staying open over the winter. McClintock says the Red Bike board declined.
"I totally appreciate folks wanting to come to bat for us," McClintock said. "But the challenge is, is that we can't be assured that we will be able to raise enough funds to continue to do that."
Red Bike has gotten capital funding from the city of Cincinnati in the past, for expanding service with new stations. It's a separate pot of money from operating costs like salaries, bike parts, software fees, insurance, and office space. And the more Red Bike expands, the bigger the operating bill becomes.
2023 was the first year City Council approved operating funds for the bikeshare. Red Bike requested $150,000, according to the funding application submitted in March and obtained by WVXU in a public records request earlier this year.
RELATED: Red Bike expansion includes the West Side's first station: Lower Price Hill
The application framed the request as necessary to operate the expansion of services: "With inflation and wage increases driving material prices and labor ever higher, we are requesting $150,000 of operational support funding to make this expansion a lasting success and make bike share accessible to more neighborhoods and more people."
City Council ultimately agreed with the City Manager's recommendation for $75,000 in funding. The fiscal year 2024 budget was approved in June, but Red Bike hasn't received any of the money. A city spokesperson says the contract works on a reimbursement basis and Red Bike hasn't submitted any invoices. McClintock says that's because the contract wasn't finalized until Monday.
"I have all my invoices ready to go and I'm going to submit them this week," McClintock said.
It won't be enough to keep Red Bike operating through the winter, though.
Red Bike's 72 stations will shut down January 12. Some staff will stay on during the pause to prepare for re-opening in "early spring." An exact date has not been announced.
What's next for bikeshare in Cincinnati?
McClintock says the funding model for bikeshare programs has changed significantly over time.
One of the first bike sharing programs in the U.S., Nice Ride in Minneapolis, shut down last year after losing a sponsorship contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Since then, the e-scooter rental companies Lime and Veo have expanded service in Minneapolis to include bikes.
Houston BCycle in Texas announced imminent closure earlier this year, after 11 years in operation. The region's public transit authority is considering a new bikeshare system to replace it.
Could Cincinnati's transit authority (Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, SORTA) do the same here? McClintock says it's too early to say.
"I think if we look at models that are really working, you either have massive corporate sponsorship like CitiBike bike in New York, or you have a massive public investment from a city, or the bike share system is embedded within a transit agency, or the city transportation department," he said. "So, all of these different models can work. And I don't know what the right model really is for the city of Cincinnati."
A spokesperson for Mayor Aftab Pureval's office says the mayor is aware of the situation and has been part of conversations about a long-term funding partner for bike share.
