Fort Worth to Launch Bike-Share Program

Federal grant worth nearly $1 million to help pay for program

A federal grant is helping Fort Worth put a bike-sharing program on the road.

Avid cyclist Mayor Betsy Price and Dick Ruddell, the president of The T announced Monday that the U.S. Department of Transportation is giving the city a grant of $941,728 to start the program.

"It'll be a very visible and very big part of the city once we get in them in here," Ruddell said.

People will be able to rent 300 bicycles at 30 stations throughout the city.

Cities such as New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia already have similar programs.

"We had to walk quite the way over there and, if we would have had [a] bike, we might have been able to go a bit further and enjoy a little more," said Robin Gibson, who was sightseeing in Fort Worth by walking and taking the bus with her two grandchildren.

To make sure that once riders get on the bikes, they travel safely, the city of Fort Worth is identifying dangerous areas. The city said it is putting green markings on bike lanes that will highlight spots where cars merge or cross into a bike lanes.

"Seeing the bright green wakes you up and makes you think, 'I got to be careful. I need to look at that blind spot and be certain and that there isn't a cyclist in my blind spot,'" Price said.

The T expects the bike-sharing program to be in place by the spring.

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