CINCINNATI — When Keith Piercy checked out a bike from Red Bike's Port Bellevue station Monday morning, he had no idea he'd be making history.
Red Bike announced Monday that Piercy's ride, from Bellevue to The Banks, marked Cincinnati's 100,000th ride on public bike share.
Smashing success: Congrats to @CincyRedBike for logging its 100,000th ride this morning! More than 17,000 people have used RedBike overall
— John Cranley (@JohnCranley) October 12, 2015
According to Red Bike Executive Director Jason Barron, the details surrounding the 100,000th ride were nothing short of poetic.
Piercy checked out the bike around 10:15 Monday morning from the Port Bellevue Station and rode about 30 minutes until he arrived at the Freedom Center station at The Banks.
Piercy's destination is particularly significant, as the Freedom Center station also served as the location of Red Bike’s ribbon cutting ceremony just over a year ago.
As if that wasn't enough to tug at Red Bike's heartstrings, Piercy said he was on his way to purchase a helmet, having just become a Red Bike member last Friday.
“This is awesome,” he told Red Bike officials, who caught up with him at the Freedom Center. “It has been working out great for me. It is really helping out our 1-car family.”
The milestone comes just weeks after Red Bike celebrated its first year of operation, one full of a number of other notable achievements.
Back in April, Red Bike announced UC Health as its first corporate sponsor. In September, Red Bike expanded its partnerships to include the social services hub CityLink Center.
The bike share program’s 13 months have also seen an expansion from 30 stations at last September's launch to 50 as of this past June, including 11 stations across the Ohio River in Northern Kentucky — a move that prompted Red Bike board member Frank Henson to proclaim Red Bike the Tri-State’s “only truly regional public transit system.”
In the weeks following the Northern Kentucky expansion, a breakdown of ridership numbers indicated the stations south of the river might have outpaced their Cincinnati counterparts.
