METRO was supposed to start a bike share program, but where is it?

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston has never been known as a cyclist-friendly city, but that doesn't mean the demand for a bike share program ceases to exist.

"It's just one way people can get around in the city," Charles Sechrengost said while walking around Montrose Wednesday afternoon.

Mofa Ali echoed those thoughts to ABC13 shortly thereafter.

"It would be better if you could get around on two wheels," Ali said.

There is currently no bike share program in the city, but how we got to this point requires a little bit of a history lesson.

Houston BCycle launched in May 2012 thanks to a grant from the City of Houston.

The company announced in September 2023 that it would be shutting down due to financial issues, but thanks to the City of Houston, that didn't come to fruition at the time. It was on Sept. 27, 2023, that the city council approved sending $540,000 to BCycle.

It was referred to by then-Mayor Sylvester Turner as transitionary funding that would allow bike share users to stay on the road until METRO launched a program of its own.

"We don't want (customers) to lose the benefit of the service," Turner said at the time.

Fast forward to today, and that service has been lost. BCycle called it quits nearly two months ago and METRO's program is non-existent.

Houston Councilwoman Abbie Kamin was one of the council members who voted to send money to BCycle in 2023.

So, how does she feel about the current state of affairs?

"It's very concerning," she said.

Kamin said she approved the funding with the understanding that METRO would soon offer bicycles as a transportation option. In fact, a day after the city voted to keep BCycle operational, METRO's board unanimously voted to proceed with that program.

Their plan involved a $10.6 million contract that would fund and maintain the program over a period of a few years.

It was supposed to start this summer, according to METRO officials last fall, but the organization has faced many leadership changes in the ensuing months.

A METRO spokesperson told ABC13 that the bike share program is being reviewed by current leadership, though it isn't their priority.

He added that no contract to launch the program was ever signed.

"I appreciate everything that METRO does," Kamin said. "But we do need to move on the things that, as a board, METRO said they'd take action on."

METRO said it would provide an update on its plans for a bike share program sometime next month.

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