On Saturday, after five years of planning, Raleigh’s long-awaited bikeshare program will finally launch. Though the project was first planned long before dockless Lime bikes and Bird scooters began popping up, proponents hope the city’s bikes will mix well with their more controversial counterparts.
With a more than $2 million price tag, most of which came from the feds, the program will consist of three hundred bikes that riders can pick up and drop off at thirty designated docks. Since Citrix is the program’s title sponsor, the bikes will be called Citrix Cycles, which, um, maybe we’ll get used to it. The city will produce the bikes, while the Canadian company Bewegen will handle operations and maintenance.
As with everything else in Raleigh, getting here hasn’t been easy. The city first explored a bikeshare in a 2014 feasibility study, and the program was initially set to launch in the spring of 2018. But that was pushed back, and then pushed back again, and now here we are.
The rules: Citrix Cycles must be returned to a predetermined station. If a station is full, you can use a secondary lock next to secure the bike next to the station after you indicate that the station is, in fact, full. This is a competitive disadvantage for the city’s program. Bird scooters and Lime bikes, after all, can be (and are) dropped off anywhere. Literally, anywhere.
The city obviously didn’t plan to compete with these companies, which first arrived in Raleigh in late 2017. But city officials don’t think the docking thing will be a problem. In fact, transportation planning manager Eric Lamb says, riders will be drawn to Citrix Cycles because their designated docks will offer a more consistent supply of bikes than their dockless competitors, which are tracked down via smartphone GPS.
“Our big thing with these bikes is their reliability and predictability,” Lamb says. “Mobility is freedom.”
Half of the bikes will also have a small motor in the back, in case you’re not really into pumping your legs.
“This is great for commuters that don’t want to get sweaty going to or from work, navigating the city’s hilly terrain, or for those who simply desire an extra boost,” says bikeshare coordinator Fontaine Burruss.
Of course, Bird scooters have motors, and Lime’s starting to use them, too.
Single rides cost $2 and can last up to forty-five minutes. (Lime, by comparison, charges $1 to unlock a bike and then 15 cents for each minute.) Frequent Citrix Cycle users can buy a day pass for $6, a monthly pass for $20, or an annual pass for $85.
Alternatively, for $7 less, you can buy your own brand-new bike.
