A new center that opened today in Findlay Market will be a one-stop shop for users of Cincinnati's bike share program.
The Red Bike Market Center is open the same hours as the popular, historic market Tuesday through Sunday and is geared toward helping Red Bike customers with starting or renewing memberships, making cash payments and answering questions about the bike-share. The center will be especially helpful for customers using Red Bike Go, a program geared toward low-income riders, Red Bike officials say.
“We are really excited to open up what we believe is the first bikeshare store in the nation,” Red Bike Executive Director Jason Barron said. “Our Red Bike Go program has been incredibly successful, and now with the Red Bike Market Center, we will be able to better connect with our Go members and encourage even more people to take up riding bikes for transportation, exercise, or just to have fun.”
Last year, Red Bike Go members took almost 30,000 rides via Red Bikes — more than one-quarter of all rides for the system, according to the bikeshare.
Red Bike already had a presence in Findlay's central market house, but the expansion will allow representatives to be there more often and to provide more engagement with potential and existing members. The center will also serve as an information hub for the market in general and its vendors and carry Findlay Market merchandise.
"We are thrilled to open the Red Bike Market Center at Findlay Market," Findlay Market President and CEO Joe Hansbauer said. "We believe that this partnership will continue to support Findlay Market's mission of connecting the community within our marketplace. It is great that our customers will have access to Red Bike Go 6 days a week, while still having a space for shoppers to ask general market questions and get information."
At the opening of the Red Bike Market Center today, the bike share also launched a fund dedicated to supporting its Red Bike Go program. Duke Energy recently contributed $50,000 to that fund.
“We are trying hard to have the best bikeshare equity program in the country," Barron said. "We have seen firsthand how access to bikeshare can change lives. We are really proud that over a quarter of all Red Bike rides last year were by Go members. But all those rides mean more flat tires, more repairs, and more e-bike batteries to change. That is why the support of community partners like Duke Energy is so important. The Red Bike Go Fund will help us continue to make sure that everyone in our community has access to the transformational vehicle known as a bicycle.”
