Houston begins auctioning off bike-share equipment, with online bidding for bikes starting at $10 – Houston Public Media

Before Houston’s bike-share network shut down in late June, users could get an hour-long ride for just $7.25.

Local residents can now own one of Houston BCycle’s bikes — many of which are red and equipped with at least one storage basket — likely without having to spend much more for it.

The city of Houston, which launched the nonprofit bike-share network in 2012 and retains ownership of its equipment, began selling the bikes last week as part of its recurring online auctions. Ten traditional pedal bikes went up for auction last Monday, with starting bids of $10, and will be on sale until 9 p.m. Wednesday.

An electric bike is also listed for online auction, and bidding for it is expected to end at 9 p.m. Tuesday. As of Monday afternoon, the highest bid for the motorized bike was $275.

“Some of them are in varying states of preservation,” said Scott Erdo, division chief of the city’s asset disposal department. “That’s why we’re selling everything as is. Buyers have to be careful.”

Erdoğan said he plans to auction more than 400 BCycle bikes in the coming months, along with docking stations and baseplates for the stations. The now-shuttered network once had more than 150 stations across the city before streamlining the system in recent years due to financial constraints.

As Houston BCycle attempted to transition from a primarily recreational service to one that could provide an alternative and equitable mode of transportation for Houston-area residents, its business model of using both rider and sponsor revenue to cover operational costs became unsustainable, board member James Llamas previously said. Houston Public MediaThe nonprofit has occasionally received financial support from Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis as well as the city, which gave BCycle $500,000 last fall to expand its operational track but has been unable to secure the kind of sustained public funding it sought.

A group of former board members of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), which provides public transit services to the region, voted last fall to launch a bike-share network operated by PBSC Urban Solutions, a Quebec-based company. But a METRO spokesperson said in early July that continuing bike sharing was “currently under review” by the agency’s new leadership.

For now, at least, Houston is the largest city in North America without a bike-share network.

Those interested in acquiring bike-share equipment from the city can submit bids through the online auction system, where items such as computers and weightlifting equipment, tables and chairs, a circular saw, a soap dispenser, a defibrillator, a walker and eight vans were available Monday afternoon. The asset disposal service generates revenue for the city by “selling used, obsolete, surplus and confiscated property,” according to its website.

Potential buyers may inspect auction items in person at the Asset Disposition Warehouse, 2511 Broad St., from 9 a.m. to noon or 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday or 9 a.m. to noon Friday. Winning bidders will be notified by the city once the auction has concluded, after which they will have five business days to make online payments for their items and pick them up at the warehouse.