Emporia’s popular bike-share program is officially back for its first full year in the local community.
Healthier Lyon County Grant Manager Daphne Mertens, a guest of KVOE’s Newsmaker Monday, says they have been looking forward to the bike’s return as have local residents. The community’s excitement is evident through the amount of use the bikes saw in the six weeks they were available during their debut last year.
According to Mertens, there were over 400 rides in that time span for a variety of different reasons.
Mertens says they were hoping they would see a wide range of uses, however, their major focus was providing transportation to area residents who live in food-insecure areas with little access to healthy food options. Mertens also says the program connects well with other forms of public transportation such as LCAT buses which now have spaces attached to allow for riders to store the bikes as they utilize the service.
The program officially launched back in September before the bikes were stored away for the winter. The program has over 20 single-speed bikes located at six stations across Emporia:
*CrossWinds Counseling and Wellness, 1000 Lincoln St
*Do-B’s, 704 E 12th Ave
*Emporia High School, 3302 W 18th Ave
*Lee Beran Recreation Center, 313 W 4th Ave
*Logan Avenue Elementary School, 521 S East St
*The public parking lot south of White Auditorium
The program is a three-way partnership between Healthier Lyon County, the Emporia Police Department and Lyon County Sheriff’s Office. For more information on the bike-share program find Healthier Lyon County on Facebook.
