(Photo: Blue Bikes by the old U.S. Mint. | Infrogmation | CC)
Bicycle sharing will soon return to the French Quarter after city officials negotiated an agreement with a local nonprofit last week.
Officials negotiated with Blue Krewe, a new nonprofit, which will provide bikes to various stations throughout the city. The agreement was signed Tuesday by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
The agreement replaces Blue Bikes, a former sharing program between the city and Jump Blue Bikes, AKA Social Bicycles, which had been in use since 2017.
The CEO of Blue Krewe is Geoff Coats, who launched and ran the New Orleans bike-share operations for Social Bicycles in 2017 and was general manager until Uber sold the company in 2020.
The Blue Bikes program was discontinued in March due to COVID-19 and the company was bought in May.
Bicycles provided by the program were pedal-powered, and contained a lithium battery and motor, allowing the bike to reach speeds up to 20 mph.
A series of sharing stations were built throughout the city, including 12 locations in the French Quarter.
A map of the stations can be found here.
The mayor’s press release on the bike-share agreement can be read here.