CINCINNATI — Red Bikes will be temporarily unavailable through the winter months in Cincinnati while the company itself undergoes staffing changes and battles budget issues, the non-profit announced Tuesday.
"This is not where Red Bike imagined operations would be as the system enters the tenth year of service, especially after an exceptional 2023," reads a press release from Red Bike.
Starting January 12, Red Bike stations will be shuttered and the bikes they contain will be unavailable for rent. Red Bike said it plans to reopen service in early spring.
In the meantime, Red Bike will be making "significant staff reductions at that time," though employees will still be working in the shop and field to repair equipment ahead of the spring.
Doug McClintock, Red Bike's executive director, told WVXU the non-profit is facing budget issues after its biggest revenue source, UC Health, decided not to renew its sponsorship of Red Bike in 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 workd to step into that space have unfortunately been unsuccessful."
McClintock went on to say the Devou Good Foundation stepped in to offer Red Bike $50,000, but the offer was contingent on Red Bike raising another $100,000 in private donations — something McClintock said couldn't be guaranteed. As a result, the Red Bike board declined Devou Good Foundation's offer.
Like they did in 2020 when the service paused for the COVID-19 pandemic, Red Bike said it will work with members to extend passes or refund purchases on a case-by-case basis.
Nearly 140,000 rides were taken on Red Bikes in 2023 and 33% of those rides were from people utilizing the non-profit's income-qualified Red Bike Go program.
Despite that, Red Bike said the revenue from bicycle rentals alone can't sustain its current operations; up to this point, Red Bike has also received contributions from corporate and private sponsors as well as local and federal grants that have enabled the non-profit to function.
The bicycle rental service celebrated its ninth year in Cincinnati in September, when it announced plans to expand Red Bike stations throughout the city. As of September, there were 70 different Red Bike stations within the region, with more planned for the future.
McClintock said at the time that Red Bike was still planning a new station in Evanston, with Avondale, Roselawn and Bond Hill next up in the pipeline.
It's unclear whether the newly announced staffing reductions will impact those plans.
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