Tag Archives: how to ride

Hibernation for Kansas bike share fleets

All Lenexa and Aspiria bikes, and a portion of the Kansas City, KS fleet will be out of service starting December 1. Each winter, the bikes in these fleets get a full tune-up over the winter months to prepare them for the busy spring biking season. In accordance with Bike Share KC’s agreements with our partners, the fleets will be hibernating from December until March. Bikes in the KCMO and North Kansas City fleets get their full tune-ups throughout the year.

If you are a Bike Share KC member, your membership works in all of our systems. Use the app to find bikes in KCMO, KCK, and North Kansas City all year round!

Questions? Email our customer service team at info@bikesharekc.com.

Free parking tips for bike share riders

Leave the meter running

Just popping out for an errand? Locking your bike without ending your trip might help you avoid the convenience fee!

If you are a 30-day, 90-day, or annual member, you get 80 minutes of free ride time per day. That could be 80 minutes of riding around town, or it could be 20 minutes of riding to the grocery store, 40 leaving the meter running while you shop, and another 20 minutes of riding back to your original hub.
If you purchase an Explorer Pass, you get unlimited trips of up to 4 hours at a time. So if you bike 15 minutes to meet a friend for lunch, you can spend more than 3 hours gossiping over your burnt ends sandwich before pedaling to the next hub to end your trip.

Even walk-up riders can game the system! Walk-up rides cost 25 cents/minute, so you can lock up your bike and leave the meter running for up to 7 minutes for less than the cost of an out-of-hub convenience fee. That’s plenty of time to pick up your to-go order.

Note: Even members and Explorer Pass riders will be charged 25 cents per minute if they ride longer than 80 minutes a day (or 4 hours at a time for Explorer Pass). Double-check your math and keep an eye on your watch when you leave the meter running! Click here to learn more about memberships and passes.

More about bike share parking

These tips for out-of-hub parking are specifically for riders in KCMO, North Kansas City, and KCK. Riders in Lenexa may only end trips at designated bike share hubs, and riders on the Aspiria Campus may only end trips on the Aspiria Campus.

Wherever you end your bike share trip, use the cable and wheel lock to secure the bike, then follow instructions on the app to end your trip. Proper parking and locking helps prevent theft and vandalism of bikes and ensures that more bikes are available when you are ready to ride. If you leave a bike unlocked or parked improperly, you may incur additional charges. Click here to read our Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about fees and fines.

Have more questions? We want to help! Email us at info@bikesharekc.com.

New parking-only hubs offer more spots to lock up your bike

Need a place to park your share bike? Now you have more options! In addition to the existing hubs our riders are already using, you can now end your bike share trip at new "parking-only hubs." With guidance from user data and our municipal partners, we activated existing bike racks as parking-only hubs for your convenience. These bike racks won't be stocked with bikes like our regular hubs, but you can lock up your bike and end your trip without incurring an out-of-hub fee.

Here’s a list of the new parking-only hubs (you can also find them on the app):

Kansas City, Missouri

18th and Prospect - silver rack at the northbound Prospect MAX stop (please do not lock up to bus stop signs, hand railings, or anything except the bike rack)
19th and Baltimore - green "U" racks on the street
36th and Broadway - blue bike racks in front of the yoga studio
Central Library - racks near the accessible entrance just east of the main library doors
Gregg/Klice Community Center - racks near the building entrance
Linwood YMCA - racks near the building entrance
Mary Williams-Neal Community Center - racks near the building entrance
Tony Aguirre Community Center - black bike racks to the right of the building entrance
Westport Sunfresh - green "U" racks between Sunfresh and Sherwin Williams

North Kansas City, Missouri

Big Rip Brewing - racks in the parking lot near the patio door
31st and Howell - racks at the northwest end of Macken Park

Kansas City, Kansas

The Merc - racks near the front door on Minnesota Ave.
Neighborhood Resource Center - black pipe bike rack at the entrance of the parking lot
Holy Family Park - racks at the corner of Ohio Ave. and Orchard St.

Using the app to find parking hubs

You can use the app to find free bike share parking, even if there are currently no bikes in the hub. Here's what the map symbols mean:

Orange with a bike and dots - There is one bike at this location, and the number of dots indicates the battery level.

Orange with a number - There are multiple bikes at this hub, and if you tap the number, you can see the battery levels for each bike.

Grey with a P - There are currently no bikes at this hub, but if you're out riding, you can park here for FREE!

Riders in Kansas City, MO, North Kansas City, MO, and Kansas City, KS may park and end their trips for FREE at any designated bike share hub or any parking-only hub. For a $2 fee, you may also park at any public bike rack, or even to a street sign, as long as you're not blocking sidewalks, stairs, handrails, or transit stops. This parking policy helps prevent theft and vandalism of bikes and ensures that more bikes are available when you are ready to ride.

Note: Riders in Lenexa may only end their trips at designated bike share hubs, and riders on the Aspiria Campus may only end trips on the Aspiria Campus.

Need more information?

We want to help you avoid the out-of-hub convenience fee! Read our Free Parking Tips for Bike Share Riders, check out our Frequently Asked Questions, send us a message on the app, or email us at info@ridekcbike.com. Our local operations staff is on the job seven days a week, and we are happy to help!

Hibernation for Kansas RideKC Bike fleets

All Lenexa and Aspiria bikes, and a portion of the Kansas City, KS fleet will be out of service starting December 1. Each year, the bikes in these fleets get a full tune-up over the winter months to prepare them for the busy spring biking season. In accordance with RideKC Bike's agreements with our partners, the fleets will be hibernating from December until March.

If you are a RideKC Bike member, your membership works in all of our systems. Use the RideKC Bike app to find bikes in KCMO, KCK, and North Kansas City all year round!

Questions? Email our customer service team at info@ridekcbike.com.

Update 1/29/25: Johnson County Park & Recreation District chose to end their contract with RideKC Bike, and therefore RideKC Bike will not be returning to any of bike share hubs in JCPRD parks this spring. Lenexa parks, the Aspiria campus, and Kansas City, KS parks will not be affected. Read more about this change on our blog.

RideKC Bike at the NFL Draft

Are you headed to the NFL Draft events April 27-29? If you’re taking a RideKC Bike, we have some tips to help you roll smoothly.

How to navigate the NFL Draft with RideKC Bike:

Park your car outside the downtown area. We suggest using your RideKC Bike app to choose an area with plenty of bikes available (Country Club Plaza, Midtown, North KC, or KCK are good bets)
Use the app to find a bike near you and check its battery level.
When you pedal up to the crowd, lock up the bike at a public bike rack, street sign, or other fixed object. Please do not lock the bike to a bus stop or street car stop, handrail, or private property, and make sure your bike isn’t blocking a sidewalk, stairway, doorway, or other access point.

Don’t panic if you can’t get a signal:

Event organizers are warning that cell phone service may be spotty with so many people downtown. This could impact the reliability of our app and your ability to start/end trips.

If you are unable to end your trip and upload a photo, please contact customer support through the app. We will reply and reverse any overage fees within 24 hours.
We recommend using a credit card instead of a debit card if possible, to avoid tying up your funds and to allow for a faster refund if needed.
During especially busy times, you may need to wait for crowds to disperse and cell service to return before you can unlock a bike.

Park it, Lock it, Snap it: Neighborly parking with RideKC Bike and Scooter

Bike share is transit, and as part of the transit system, RideKC Bike is committed to improving mobility for everyone in our service area. Besides providing consistent service, well-kept equipment, and thoughtfully distributed vehicles for our riders, that also means keeping sidewalks clear for people not using RideKC Bike. We work with municipalities, businesses and residents to ensure pedestrian safety and access and convenient bike share parking. Here are some tips for what we like to call “neighborly parking.”

Park it:

If you’re using a classic (pedal-powered) bike, roll the front wheel into an open dock at a station and hold till the light on the dock turns green. If you’re using an e-bike or scooter in KCMO, you can park at a dock, a bike rack, a sign post, or other fixture in the “furniture zone,” which is the area between the walkway and the curb. Be sure that other people can use the bike and you’re not blocking pedestrian access to a stair railing, ADA ramp, or doorway.
If you’re parking in North Kansas City, you can park at a bike share station or a public bike rack.

Lock it:

Use the orange cable to lock the e-bike or scooter. Locking up keeps vehicles secure and out of the way of pedestrians.

Snap it:

When you lock up the vehicle, the Drop app will prompt you to check in the vehicle and snap a picture to prove it’s locked securely. This helps us track our bikes and scooters and keep them maintained.

Neighborly parking is good for the community, good for the equipment, and good for you, because it helps you avoid penalty fees. Have questions? We’ve got answers! Call customer service at 816-945-9545 or email info@ridekcbike.com for any inquiries, including billing, app glitches, and maintenance issues.