Mérida’s bike share program is a hit. A little more than two weeks after it started, En Bici had over 30,000 users who took more than 18,000 trips.
The program encourages residents to use green transportation and helps mass-transit passengers make transfers. The program will be free for at least the next three months. Eventually, riders will pay a modest hourly fee until the bike is returned.
En Bici uses docking stations with QR codes that link with smartphone apps. The bikes are equipped with GPS tracking, which has solved a few cases of attempted bike thefts.
Some bikes were hauled off to remote towns but were still traced by authorities, police said. No arrests have been made in connection with the attempted thefts.
Another challenge is that some bikes are returned damaged or stripped of their lights or reflectors.
On the Apple Store page, reviewers generally praised the app, although some had quibbles over the bikes’ availability, comfort, and handling.
The city provides a download link and instructions here.
