CINCINNATI — Red Bikes have been a staple in Cincinnati for nine years now, and over those years the organization has worked to expand its reach both geographically and equitably.
Red Bike officially became nine years old on Thursday.
There are currently 70 different Red Bike stations throughout the Greater Cincinnati region, with more still planned in the future.
"We installed a station at Shelter House last year that's become the number one most used station by our members, because we have a lot of folks who are unhoused and don't have transportation," said Doug McClintock, Red Bike's executive director. "It is really a life-giving thing to have transportation to get around to live your life. We all have places to go, things to do and they vary from day to day, but to have the ability to choose to take a bike when you need to take a bike is really powerful and we've seen we need to expand that to other neighborhoods."
McClintock said Red Bike is planning a new station location in Evanston, with Avondale, Roselawn and Bond Hill next in the pipeline.
He said expanding inclusivity and equitable access to the bicycles is the overall goal.
"Equity really is at the heart of what everything Red Bike does," said McClintock. "Back in 2018 we launched the Go Pass, which is an income-qualified program that allows people to get on Red Bike for $5 a month. So we can accept cash at our office, people who are unbanked have access and it really has grown over the years. This year we are tracking about 33% of our users are Go members and that is an impressive number."
According to a press release from Red Bike, riders used the service for over 100,000 trips as of early September — more than people rode the bikes in all of 2022. Rides are also up 40% over Red Bike's previous best year, the organization said.
Of all the riders who chose to use a Red Bike to reach their destinations, over 31% of those were taken by members utilizing the Red Bike Go program offered for income-qualified people.
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