People For Bikes

1st NBA-Backed Bikeshare Shows Up In Indianapolis

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Count the days, Indy citizens — on April 22, 2014, 250 Pacers gold bikes docked at 25 stations will be available for your use. You can find the bikes on or near the Indianapolis Cultural Trail in downtown Indianapolis. This is the new best way to cruise around your town, convenient for every urbanite with spring wanderlust. Last Friday, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Inc. revealed details about the new bikeshare program, which is ready to grace Indianapolis in just a few weeks.

People For Bikes

People For Bikes shares more information: “The bikeshare system, which will officially launch on April 22, will have 250 bikes at 25 bikeshare stations located on or near the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick. The Cultural Trail is an amazing eight-mile-long world-class urban bicycle and pedestrian trail that connects six cultural districts throughout Downtown Indianapolis. If you want protected bike lanes, this is the place you’re going to get them!”

This bikeshare will be providing fabulous bikes, a remarkable philanthropic contribution from the Herbert Simon Family Foundation. Additional funding came from a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program of the US Department of Transportation. The bikes are Pacers gold and the system is called “Pacers Bikeshare.” It is the only bikeshare in the US to have a professional sports team as its title sponsor. (Time to start a trend). This stir elicited some joy from NBA.com and Pacers Bikeshare will launch just days after the NBA Playoffs begin.


“Thanks to our owner and his family, the Indiana Pacers are delighted to have their name associated with this service that will enhance the use of the Cultural Trail, add vibrancy to the downtown experience and promote active lifestyles,” said Rick Fuson, Chief Operating Officer of Pacers Sports and Entertainment.

“A growing number of people want to live in places where they can connect to unique experiences and neighborhoods without needing a car,” said Mayor Greg Ballard. “Adding Pacers Bikeshare to our internationally recognized Cultural Trail will help attract, retain and connect people in Indy and take our growing bicycle culture to an entirely new level.”

The NBA page for the Indian Pacers writes:

Bikes are available by purchasing either a 24 hour pass for $8 or an annual membership for $80. Your pass or membership gives you access to a bike for unlimited thirty minute trips. Trips over thirty minutes will incur additional user fees as is standard with bikeshare programs around the country. 24 hour passes can be purchased at any bikeshare station or online and annual memberships may be purchased online at pacersbikeshare.org.

Go to IndyCulturalTrail.org or directly to the Map of Bikeshare StationsIndy style. Check out PacersBikeshare.org

People For Bikes also points out: “As a recently-named Green Lane Project city, the new bikeshare system is only one of many positive developments for bicycling in Indianapolis.”

Lets love and encourage this, start a trend — so many cities, so many bike lanes to follow.

Related Stories:

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Bike-Sharing Programs Improve Street Life

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Bikes vs Cars — New Documentary From Award-Winning Swedish Filmaker Fredrik Gertten

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Cynthia Shahan

Cynthia Shahan, started writing after previously doing research and publishing work on natural birth practices. Words can be used improperly depending on the culture you are in. (Several unrelated publications) She has a degree in Education, Anthropology, Creative Writing, and was tutored in Art as a young child thanks to her father the Doctor. Pronouns: She/Her

Cynthia Shahan has 947 posts and counting. See all posts by Cynthia Shahan