Blue Bikes, the bike-share program in which New Orleanians, and those visiting the city, can rent public bikes by the hour or month, are returning to the streets of New Orleans. A fleet of 500 pedal-assist e-bikes will be ready to ride by September 1st.
The Blue Bikes program, which was first introduced to the city in 2017, and went through a series of out-of-state corporate ownership changes before being pulled at the beginning of the pandemic, will now be locally operated. Blue Krewe, a local non-profit whose partners include Bike Easy, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, and the City of New Orleans, will ensure that the bikes will be available in the city for a long time.
Dan Favre, Executive Director of Bike Easy, an organization that is dedicated to local bike safety, said that the organization is excited about Blue Bikes, once again, hitting the streets.
“The bikes bring a lot of benefits to the community,” he said. “It’s a healthy, sustainable way for people to get around the city and safe bikeways are making riding a bike safer than ever.”
According to a press release, Blue Bikes 2.0 will have a particular focus on serving areas identified in the City of New Orleans’ Bicycle Equity Index, which are primarily lower-income and communities of color with low car ownership rates. The program will connect these neighborhoods to job centers and amenities. The initial system area will include parts of the Lower Garden District, Central City, the Central Business District, the French Quarter, the Marigny, the Bywater, the 7th Ward, Tremé, Mid-City, and the lower section of City Park.
Racks used for the previous bike share program will be utilized and more will be added, in the future, as the program expands.
Drop Mobility has developed a Blue Bikes Nola app where people can sign up to ride Blue Bikes. You can choose the “pay as you go” plan, which allows the rider to pay $1 to unlock the bike and an additional 15 cents per minute of riding. This plan is more for the casual rider who wants to see the sights or needs the bike for a short-term purpose. The bikes can also be rented for $25 a month, including 60 minutes of daily riding time. This plan is designed for those who depend on the bikes to get around town or get to work. Those who use (S/NAP) or Medicaid can rent the bikes for $4 a month and 60 minutes of daily ride time.
The return of the bikes means locals and visitors with have another way to navigate the city.
“The upcoming launch of Blue Bikes is a major accomplishment in our commitment to improve equity, connectivity, safety and efficiency in our transportation networks. Bike share is a critical component of our transportation system; people rely on it to get to work, and we are excited that 500 bikes will be back on the streets soon. We appreciate the partnership in the Greater New Orleans Foundation, which helped develop the new program, and are thankful for the return of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana as lead sponsor. Blue Bikes is returning better than before, with a greater focus on supporting our community every step of the way,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said, when announcing a re-launch of the program.
