CycleHop-SoBi Selected as Preferred Bike Share Vendor

11/4/2015







Media Contact(s):

Jeane’ Holley: (216)698-2544/(216) 640-0821 or jholley@cuyahogacounty.us





Cuyahoga County to Open Contract Negotiations for a Spring 2016 Rollout



Cleveland, OH – The Cuyahoga County Department of Sustainability, in partnership with Bike Cleveland, announces CycleHop-SoBi as the preferred vendor for a formal bike share system in Cleveland. Cuyahoga County will now enter contract negotiations with the goal of bringing a downtown based system ahead of the Republican National Convention in July of next year. The goal will be to expand into University Circle and other neighborhoods as additional funding is secured.



Working with Bike Cleveland, Cuyahoga County was awarded $357,000 in federal funds from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) to bring a formal bike share system to Cleveland. The federal funds have been matched by local contributions from the Saint Luke’s Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, Destination Cleveland, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, and Donna & Stewart Kohl.



Bike Cleveland released a request for proposal, and a group of stakeholders formed a selection committee to review the responses. Members of that committee include, Cuyahoga County, Bike Cleveland, the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County Planning, University Circle Inc., Greater Cleveland RTA, Cleveland Metroparks, Cuyahoga County Board of Health, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Cleveland Public Library, and members of the local business community. The selection process was observed by representatives from the Ohio Department of Transportation.



“Bringing large scale bike share to the City of Cleveland is incredibly exciting,” said Jacob VanSickle, Executive Director of Bike Cleveland. “CycleHop put forth a very strong proposal and we definitely selected the best bike share vendor for Cleveland.”



“This is a great project to work on, and we think it will have a positive impact on the city that people will notice immediately,” said Mike Foley, Director, Cuyahoga County Department of Sustainability.



The bike share program is a private-public partnership, and the business model relies on corporate sponsorship. Business and property owners may participate and support the program through sponsorship, adopt-a-station, and the purchase of memberships. For more information please contact info@cyclehop.com.





About CycleHop-SoBi

CycleHop is the largest ‘smart bike’ bike share operations company in North America. CycleHop plans, funds, deploys, and operates municipal and campus bike share programs. CycleHop’s technology partner, Social Bicycles (SoBi), is a leader and innovator of bike share equipment and related software. At the core of SoBi’s success is its ‘smart bike’ technology with a proprietary GPS-equipped locking mechanism embedded on a classic Dutch-frame bike (rather than on a docking station). With the flexibility of an on board lock and GPS, this smart bike approach dramatically reduces costs, creates a modern and flexible user experience, allows for more scalable bike share operations, generates valuable and usable trip data, and unlocks new revenue channels via interaction with mobile and bicycle screens. SoBi equipment is currently serving or being deployed in the following cities: Orlando, Tampa, Buffalo, Hamilton ON, Ottawa ON, Long Beach NY, Atlanta, Phoenix, Mesa, Topeka, Boise, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Long Beach CA, and Portland.



About Bike Cleveland

Bike Cleveland is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and the leading advocacy organization for bicycles and pedestrians in the Greater Cleveland area. With the goal of making Greater Cleveland a better place to live and ride, Bike Cleveland works to build livable communities by promoting all forms of cycling, and advocating for the rights and equality of the cycling community.



