After taking a two-month pause in January, Red Bike will shut down indefinitely. The board that oversees the Cincinnati bikeshare program voted to shutter it because of a lack of sustainable funding.
In a statement sent to WVXU Thursday, Red Bike Board Chair Anastasia Mileham explained the board's decision.
"Obviously, we can't spend what we don't have, and it was our fiscal responsibility as a board to use the remaining cash to properly account for and dispose of Red Bike assets," Mileham wrote. "It was with a heavy heart that we made the decision as a board to keep the system closed and prepare a plan for dissolution."
However, this may not be Red Bike's end. She further explained that as the board began to inform its partners, "pledges of support began to appear."
"We are now working with the city, under Councilman Mark [Jeffrey's] leadership, to cobble together a bridge plan that would enable us to continue working towards a sustainable funding model for the future," she wrote.
Red Bike had its most successful year in 2023, with nearly 140,000 rides, 645 active annual members, and 157 active monthly members. Those have never been enough to operate the service, Executive Director Doug McClintock told WVXU in December. The real issue, he said, was losing a sponsorship contract with UC Health, which expired last June.
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"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 said. "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."
The January pause was meant to help sustain the service.
"In January and February our revenue is very, very down because people aren't riding," McClintock said at the time. "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."
All of Red Bike's staff, except for McClintock, will be laid off next week, the Cincinnati Business Courier says, who was first to report the news Wednesday.
Red Bike started in 2014, and eventually expanded to Covington and Newport.
—with reporting by Becca Costello
