Next week, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County’s board will vote on a partnership with Houston Bike Share that they say will increase the city’s connectivity, and help with the company's bike share program, BCycle.

BCycle started in 2012 with three stations, and now has 155 stations across the city. However, due to operational and maintenance costs of the system, Houston Bike Share had to temporarily suspend the usage of half of these stations.

“The difficult part has been business operations, as we grow, we have money that needs to go with us, so that we can cover our growth, and that has not happened in symbiosis with our spread,” said Maya Ford Chair of the Board and Interim Executive Director of Houston Bike Share.

According to Ford, Houston Bike Share entered partnerships when BCycle first started, which helped the bike share grow, but did not help sustain that growth. “One of our grave mistakes was poor agreements, when we didn’t ask for support of maintenance or cleaning and upgrading, and that was a huge, short sightedness on our part.”

This has led to oversights in upkeep of the actual bike hardware, as Ford said some of the bikes at stations are aging and require repairs.

To keep the bike share alive, a part of METRO’S decision will include whether or not to provide up to $500,000 in funds for maintenance-related or other operational needs of the bike share program.

If approved, METRO would have a six to nine month period to decide if these funds would be distributed and what they would be used for, said Tracy Jackson Deputy Chief Communications Officer of METRO Houston.

Jackson said though this agreement would aim to assist Houston Bike Share with BCycle, both transit systems would be working in tandem with each other to help with increasing accessibility to multimodal transportation in the city.

“This is all about METRO’S multimodal approach, right now BCycle is predominantly used for recreation, and we want to take a look at how it can be used for the first and last mile to improve that part of the travel experience, that is going to be the focus,” said Jackson.

The first and last mile goal is to make the transition easier from a person’s home, business or general location to wherever they may have access to a bus stop or rail station, said Jackson.

To facilitate this transition, the partnership with Houston Bike Share will allow METRO to place BCycle stations in the areas where there may be longer distances between their bus stops and rail stations.

According to Jackson, METRO has not decided where the BCycle stations would go up but would be doing so in the six to nine month period, pending the partnership’s approval.

Ford supports METRO wanting to install more BCycle stations near the bus stops and rail stations, as many of the existing stations’ locations are along the transit’s system already.

“One of the reasons why METRO was a logical option is because our map overlaps with where there are METRO stations and where there’s high density, so we always sought to provide support in coordination with METRO,” said Ford.

For bike advocate organizations like BikeHouston, this partnership is seen as an opportunity to get more Houstonians considering cycling as a feasible mode of transportation. “When we see our regional transit system taking Houston Bike Share and partnering with them, it reinforces the notion that bicycles are a legitimate part of our transportation system,” Joe Cutrufo Executive Director of BikeHouston said.

Houston Bike Share currently has 118 annual members and 2,246 monthly members, Ford said. The company wants to continue to have the ability with METRO’s help to cater to their active members and increase ridership. “People in Houston deserve options. We’re not saying that you're not ever going to use a single occupancy vehicle, but you should have the option to get around near your house or work and school, without needing one.”