by
Adrianne Kelly | Mar 16, 2015
Now that the weather is changing, it might be time for a bike ride, and it looks like Cincinnati Red Bike had a good year, even through the colder months.
Red Bike underwent a small expansion to get ready for the spring rush at Fourth and Vine streets on Thursday.
According to Red Bike executive director Jason Barron, Red Bike is red hot.
"So far people are excited about it. Red Bike has been really popular; people have been using it. It’s a nice new thing in downtown," Barron said.
The bike sharing program launched in September with winter on the horizon.
According to the numbers, other than the most snowy parts of February, Red Bike more than survived the winter.
"We had 2,000 riders in December and 1,800 in January. You know the last couple weeks were a little snowy, but people were still out riding even on the worst days," Barron said.
The program worked well for bike enthusiast Frank Henson. He now leaves his own bike home when commuting from Madisonville.
"If you've got eight to 10 blocks to walk, you're going to be just as cold. But when you're on the bike, you get it over quicker," Henson said. "I used to put my personal bike on the front of the bus and come downtown on the bus, get off at a Red Bike station, get on a Red Bike and go."
Henson said he thinks people will find that the program is as easy as riding a bike.
" It's pretty intuitive. You get on the bike, you ride it where you need to go and you check it back in," Henson said.
Along with expansion this summer in Northern Kentucky, there will also be more locations popping in the Cincinnati area. Red Bike hopes to have the expansion done in time for the All Star Game.