Tag Archives: north kansas city

Free parking tips for bike share riders

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 (find them on the app). For a $2 out-of-hub convenience 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. 

But what if your destination doesn’t have a bike share hub? You can still avoid the convenience fee if you follow these tips:

End your trip at a parking-only hub

Using rider data and guidance from our municipal partners, we activated existing bike racks in areas where people were already looking for bike parking. You can end your trip for FREE at these parking-only hubs! Click here for a list of parking only hubs (or you can find them on the app).

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.

Become a Bike Wrangler

Wranglers are monthly members who earn extra ride time and even monthly memberships by returning “stray” share bikes to our hubs. These special members aren’t exempt from the out-of-hub fee, but free monthly memberships and all those extra minutes might take the sting out of an occasional $2 charge. Click here to learn more about the Bike Wrangler program.

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.

 

RKCB e-bike backlit against a blue sky

Electric-assist RideKC Bikes coming to North Kansas City

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 13, 2023

The City of North Kansas City will soon upgrade the bicycles available and the parking rules for its bike share program. Beginning January 17, 2023, a new fleet of smart electric-assist RideKC Bikes will be replacing the classic pedal bikes. The e-bikes feature electric motors that will give riders a boost when they engage the pedals and solid tires that never go flat.

Formerly, the City of North Kansas City required riders to park and lock RideKC Bikes at designated RideKC Bike hubs. The new rule takes advantage of the e-bikes’ smart “lock-to” technology, allowing users to use the built-in lock to secure bikes at existing RideKC Bike hubs, or any publicly-available bike rack within the RideKC Bike service area, which now includes North Kansas City.

This lock-to technology ensures that bikes are parked responsibly and out of the public right-of-way. RideKC e-bikes feature on-board GPS, which notifies local operating staff when the equipment needs servicing, charging, or is improperly parked.

Pricing, user instructions, and a link to download the RideKC Bike can be found on RideKC Bike’s website: www.ridekcbike.com/ride-with-us/. Locations for all RideKC Bikes and parking hubs are available in the RideKC Bike app.

“North Kansas City is proud to offer electric-assist bikes as a more accessible, equitable and healthier mobility option,” says Bryant DeLong, North Kansas City Mayor. “Electric-assist bikes help advance the priorities of the NKC Bike Master Plan and further positions our city as a leader in micromobility and transit in the region”

“Residents are really looking forward to electric bikes,” says Eric Vaughan, director of bike share with BikeWalkKC. “We are excited to be a part of North Kansas City’s future of connectivity.”

The public and members of the media are invited to an event launching the new fleet of electric-assist RideKC Bikes on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 4 p.m. at North Kansas City City Hall (2010 Howell Street).

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About RideKC Bike: Launched in 2012, RideKC Bike is the Kansas City metropolitan area’s community bike share program and is operated by BikeWalkKC and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. The system provides a unique integration of public transit and shared use mobility for residents and visitors. The bike share program is a part of the RideKC regional transit family of mobility services, including bus, MAX, streetcar, paratransit, and bike share services. For more information, please visit www.ridekcbike.com.

CONTACTS:

Eric Vaughan
Director of Bike Share, BikeWalkKC
816-945-9545
eric.vaughan@bikewalkkc.org

Kim Nakahodo
Deputy City Administrator, City of North Kansas City
816-274-6000
knakahodo@nkc.org

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.