B-cycle memberships are about to get a lot more portable.
Beginning next week, annual memberships from this bike-sharing company will be honored in 15 cities where B-Cycle operates, from Nashville, Tennessee, to Kailua, Hawaii. The program is called B-connected.
Bob Burns, president of B-cycle, said in a press release that the program will "empower annual members to experience visiting cities by bike versus car."
B-connected will be available in the following B-cycle cities:
- Denver, CO
- Boulder, CO
- Madison, WI
- San Antonio, TX
- Houston, TX
- Spartanburg, SC
- Charlotte, NC
- Des Moines, IA
- Kansas City, MO
- Omaha, NE
- Nashville, TN
- Kailua, HI
- Broward County, FL.
- Fort Worth, TX (launching Spring)
- Salt Lake City, UT (launching Spring)
The company has been exploring the "B-connected" model since last March, using Denver, Boulder, and Madison as pilot cities. If a B-cycle member incurs additional fees while in another B-cycle city (by taking a bike out longer than the allotted time limit, for instance), they will be charged by the system where the trip took place.
This is the first time a bike-share company has allowed members to use other cities' systems when they travel without having to pay extra. Will Alta Bicycle Share follow suit? Alta already runs systems in Boston and D.C., with new ones set to come online soon in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Portland. A similar move could create quite a network.
