Two Years on Two Wheels: KANcycle Bike Share Celebrates 2nd Birthday

Salina, Kansas:  OCCK Transportation launched KANcycle, bike sharing for rural Kansas, in June 2019, and is celebrating the program’s second birthday with some fun events the week of June 14th.  

With 16 stations and 80 bikes located throughout north central Kansas, KANcycle has been a popular transportation option with more than 200 users riding bikes more than 1,800 times in eight communities over the past few months.  Usage is climbing with the warmer spring months and will continue over the summer. 

Bicycles are located in Salina, Minneapolis, Concordia, Belleville, Mankato, Beloit, Lincoln and Ellsworth.

To celebrate the bike share’s second birthday, KANcycle is inviting the communities to participate in these Come & Go birthday parties:

  • Salina:  June 14th, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at OCCK Transportation, 340 N. Santa Fe
  • Minneapolis:  June 17th, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Ottawa County Health Department, 817A Argyle Avenue
  • Concordia:  June 16th, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Concordia Chamber of Commerce, 207 W. 6th
  • Belleville:  June 15th, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Belleville Chamber, 1205 18th Street
  • Mankato:  June 16th, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Mankato City Office, 217 S. High Street
  • Beloit:  June 14th, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. at Beloit Chamber, 209 E. Main, Suite 104
  • Lincoln:  June 14th, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Lincoln Chamber, 144 E. Lincoln
  • Ellsworth:  June 18th, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Ellsworth Chamber, 114 ½ N. Douglas

Each location will have food, drinks, and giveaways. 

“KANcycle has been a great program for north central Kansas,” said Michelle Griffin, Mobility Manager.  “We have brought a new and popular transportation option to smaller communities with this unique program.  We are so excited to celebrate KANcycle’s 2nd birthday.”

Riders join the program by signing up for annual memberships or pay-as-you-go.  Annual memberships will be $30 with trips under 1 hour being free, student annual memberships will be $20 with trips under 1 hour being free, and pay-as-you-go will be $1.50 every 30 minutes.

Movatic manages all aspects of its bike-share programs — from bikes and technology, to maintenance and fleet rebalancing. Riding KANcycle bike share is easy. Bikes can be found via the free Movatic Mobile App — available for iPhone and Android.  Each bike has a unique number which riders enter into the app to unlock the bike.  After the rider returns the bike to a designated Movatic bike station, the rental ends and the bike is available for the next person to enjoy.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, the state’s largest health insurer, helps to support KANcycle, as they do Bike Share ICT in Wichita. 

OCCK, Inc. provides services in north central Kansas to anyone with any type of long or short-term disability, starting as early as birth and following people through their whole lives.  OCCK provides an array of supports for success at home and in the community, including independent living skills and supports, employment and career training, Alzheimer’s supports, autism services, assistive technology, children’s services, transportation, specialized therapies, and home health care.

OCCK is committed to providing transportation services to the general public, seniors, and persons with disabilities, through a variety of programs, including a fixed route service in Salina, CityGo, a regional paratransit service that serves fourteen counties, non emergency medical transportation for people with Medicaid, as well as non emergency medical transportation for clients of Salina Regional Health Center, a regional fixed route service, 81 Connection, KANcycle – the regional bike sharing program, City of Abilene public transportation and the newest program, KanConnect.

For more information about OCCK, Inc., visit www.occk.com.  For more information about CityGo and OCCK Transportation, visit www.salinacitygo.com. Or, contact the OCCK Transportation Center at 785-826-1583.

For more information about KANcycle, visit www.kancycle.org