Mayor launches LouVelo bike share program in and around downtown

Louisville, KY (May 25, 2017) – Mayor Greg Fischer announced today that Louisville’s bike share program, called LouVelo, is now live and ready for use.

LouVelo is owned by the city, which has contracted with CycleHop, a leading operator of major municipal bike share programs throughout North America, to run the program. The bicycles and station equipment are provided by Lyft Urban Solutions, North America’s largest provider of bike share equipment. The LouVelo network will begin with 305 bikes positioned at 27 stations in downtown, Old Louisville, NuLu, and points in between.

“Whether you’re a student riding the educational corridor from Spalding and Simmons College, a downtown worker trying to get to and from meetings, or a visitor taking in the sights, LouVelo is here for you,” said the Mayor. “Bike share ties together our goals for quality of life, multi-modal transportation, sustainability and wellness, along with talent attraction and retention.”

The service makes bicycles available for short-term use. The bikes can be picked up at one station and returned to any other station in the system, which makes it easy for people looking to get from one location to another during the work or school day without driving a car, and those riding for leisure, recreation or just touring the city.

LouVelo sponsors include Computershare, Norton Healthcare, JP Morgan Chase & Co., UPS, Main & Clay, Genscape Inc., The Brown Hotel, KentuckyOne Health, Atria Senior Living, and The Eye Care Institute.

“These great community partners know that quality of life is a critical factor in maintaining and growing a talented workforce in Louisville,” Fischer said. “LouVelo is one of the many things we’re doing to enhance quality of life in our city.”

“Computershare is pleased to be a sponsor of LouVelo. As a company we’re committed to environmental sustainability and promoting a healthy lifestyle,” said Frank Madonna, executive vice president of operations at Computershare. “We’re happy to partner with the city of Louisville in providing tools that improve the quality of life for its residents.”

Bike sharing is part of the Move Louisville long-term multimodal transportation plan, which calls for accommodating all users of the city’s transportation system — pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and public transit riders — in the best ways possible. It’s also a great way for people to reduce their carbon footprints and increase wellness while serving the routine objective of getting from one place to another. LouVelo is another way that Louisville is growing its network of cycling facilities, such as bike lanes, that are making it easier and safer to get around the city on two wheels.

“Providing fun, healthy and sustainable transportation alternatives is at the core of CycleHop’s mission.” Said Dave Nelson, COO of CycleHop. “We are honored and proud to bring a new mode of public transportation to Louisville. With a range of plans to meet the needs of Louisville residents and visitors, LouVelo is a great new way to get around town that is as enjoyable as it is convenient.”

CycleHop is currently offering a $99 Founding Member plan that includes an unlimited number of 60-minute rides for a whole year. A station map and signup details are available at www.louvelo.com.

“We are very pleased to be working with Lyft Urban Solutions a national leader in bike share technology and with the great support of Louisville Metro and our wonderful sponsors and community partners, we are able to make bike share in Louisville a reality,” said Nelson.

“We take pride in offering highly innovative solutions that contribute to improving urban mobility in cities around the world. We are very excited to provide Louisville with 305 Iconic bikes and 27 stations, the perfect design for Louisville’s residents,” said Gian-Carlo Crivello, Client Relationship Officer of Lyft Urban Solutions.

LouVelo has partnered with Transit to make it easier and faster for users to find stations, buy passes, and unlock bikes with their phones. Transit is already quite popular in Louisville with tens of thousands of users across the city. It was also recently endorsed by TARC as their recommended app for bus riders.

“Transit shows you all your nearby options in one place: you can watch your next bus approaching in real-time, check the ETA for the closest Uber, and now find and unlock nearby bikes,” says Transit’s Chief Operating Officer, Jake Sion. “We are very excited for Louisville to become the 9th city where you can buy bike-share passes through our app.” Transit is available for iOS and Android (https://transitapp.com/).
Another 15 stations are already under consideration to expand the network. The city is working with the University of Louisville with an aim to place multiple stations on the school’s Belknap campus by fall 2017. Plans for expansion into other neighborhoods, such as Russell and the Highlands, are also being developed.

To learn more about LouVelo or purchase a membership, visit https://louvelo.com