County Partners with University Hospitals to Launch Bike Share System

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Contacts:
Jeane’ Holley: (216) 698-2544, or jholley@cuyahogacounty.us

UHBikes officially launches 250 new red bicycles in Cleveland

CLEVELAND – Cleveland and Cuyahoga County’s new bike share system, sponsored by University Hospitals, officially launches Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 1 p.m. After remarks from the county, city, UH, and Bike Cleveland, a celebratory community ride from Public Square will end at Cleveland Public Auditorium. This coincides with the start of Cleveland’s eighth annual sustainability summit, highlighting the city’s Year of Sustainable Transportation, which will take place at Cleveland Public Auditorium.

"Our support for UHBikes makes sense for so many reasons," said Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish. "Not only is our region home to some of the most incredible sights to explore on pedals – from our world-class arts district to our thriving entertainment and dining destinations; but there is a real health and environmental benefit for the entire community. UHBikes allows visitors and residents to join the transportation revolution in a fun, affordable, accessible, and healthy way."

UHBikes includes 250 red bikes at 29 stations across the city, encompassing downtown, University Circle, Central, Ohio City, Tremont, and the Campus District. UHBikes pre-launched 100 green bikes at stations throughout downtown during the Republican National Convention to showcase one of the many improvements the city is making to support sustainable transportation and communities.

During the pre-launch, the following data was collected:

New sign-ups – 997
Overall trips – 3,585
Total miles – 6,950.39
Bike use (trips/bike/day) - .82
Carbon reduced – 6,128.98
Average rental time daily – 32:50

"Biking is healthy, active and highly social – in short, a great way to help create more livable and connected communities, both for residents and visitors," said Sarah O’Keeffe, Sustainability Manager at University Hospitals. "UHBikes directly aligns with this concept as well as our organization’s health mission and UH is proud to have these bikes out in the community."

The UHBikes system is operated by CycleHop, which uses Social Bicycles' smart-bike technology. Bikes can be locked inside and outside of designated hubs. The GPS-enabled bikes give riders the freedom and flexibility to explore Cleveland without needing to return bikes directly to hubs.

For pricing options and to sign up for UHBikes, visit UHBikes.com or download the Social Bicycles App on a smartphone.


About CycleHop-SoBi
By number of cities served, CycleHop is the second largest bike share Operations Company in North America. CycleHop is a complete bike share solutions provider, including planning, funding, equipment selection, implementation, operations, marketing, sponsorship sales, and regional expansion. Their equipment provider, Social Bicycles is an industry leader in bike share products, including their GPS enabled smart bike.


About the Cuyahoga County Department of Sustainability
The County Sustainability Office was created in late 2014 and is charged with, promoting economic development to support businesses that provide environmentally sustainable products and services; educating the public about environmentally sustainable practices; and collaborating with businesses, non-profit organizations, and government agencies to develop programs incorporating environmentally sustainable methods into accepted practice.


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. Visit www.BikeCleveland.org for more information.


About University Hospitals
Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 40 outpatient health centers and 200 physician offices in 15 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system’s flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located on a 35-acre campus in Cleveland’s University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The main campus also includes University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, transplantation and urology. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including “America’s Best Hospitals” from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is the second largest employer in northern Ohio with 26,000 employees. For more information, go to UHhospitals.org.

  
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