SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A Miami-based company that partnered with Metropolitan Transportation Commission to provide electric bicycles to Richmond and other cities has abandoned the program.
250 e-bikes came to Richmond thanks to a million-dollar grant from MTC last year. The transportation agency partnered with the Miami-based mobility rental company Bolt, that uses dockless technology where riders can download an app to unlock, activate and pay for bikes.
Bolt representatives have missed the city's monthly meeting check-in and have been unresponsive. So, the e-bikes are scattered around town, not in service.
"Bolt has gone out of business at least temporarily and so all these cities are stuck with these bikes that don’t work and you can’t rent them anymore," Richmond Mayor Tom Butt told KCBS Radio.
People from Gotcha who developed the system and sold it to Bolt still have the rights to the software and will be coming out next week to try to help.
"We are optimistic that one way or another we will be back in the e-bike business," Butt said.
With Richmond being a low-income community providing reasonably priced clean local transportation was helpful to the community and visitors.
Related
