Fort Worth is about to become the first city in North Texas to have bike sharing.
Councilman Joel Burns is asking the council to waive permit fees necessary to help get the project started. A vote comes in two weeks.
Burns says by mid-year, the city should have the first of 30 bike-share stations in place.
“We’re going to have stations downtown, the near southside, and areas in our urban core that allow people to walk out of City Hall, get on a bike, ride it to Magnolia, put their bike in the bike share station there, and go on about their day," Burns explained to city council colleagues. "And then, have another one there when they’re ready to go on to the next place.”
Bikes will be rented on a timed basis: an hour, a day, a week. Details on cost come later.
The Fort Worth Transportation Authority got almost $1 million from the federal Department of Transportation to start the program. It’ll be run by the non-profit group Fort Worth Bike Sharing.
Austin is also gearing up a bike-share system. Houston just expanded its program. San Antonio was the first city in Texas to do it.
