Austin B-Cycle Breaks Bike Share Record During SXSW
Austin's new bike share system has already ridden into the record books, thanks to a spike in activity during South by Southwest.
Austin B-Cycle, which lets users rent bikes at one location and return them to another location, reported 17,724 bike checkouts during the festival (March 7–16). On Saturday, March 15, the average Austin B-Cycle bike was checked out more than 10 different times, making 2,774 total bike checkouts. This stat trounced the previous record of 7.2 average checkouts per bike in one day, set in New York City.
"The fact that we set the record for the bike share per day per bike average just shows what a good fit bike share is for Austin and for these kind of events," said Austin B-Cycle executive director Elliott McFadden. "Folks saw it as a great way to get around."
Austin B-Cycle checkouts during SXSW averaged 1,900 per day. McFadden said that before the festival he had hoped for 1,000 to 1,500 bike checkouts per day during that period. Austin B-Cycle launched in December with 11 stations, expanding to nearly 40 stations in the period leading up to SXSW.
More at http://www.austinpost.org/article/austin-b-cycle-breaks-bike-share-record-during-sxsw .
[font color=green]If you build it, they will come.[/font]
