SAN ANTONIO - The more the bikes are used, Zack Gonzales said, the more wear and tear he has to repair.
Gonzales is in charge of the maintenance on the 211 bicycles in the city’s B-Cycle bike share program.
He said these days he can barely keep up with the work.
"Oh yeah, the bikes are definitely getting used," he said Wednesday while fixing a flat on one of the bicycles.
In the program's first year, the bicycles logged more 32,000 trips and more than 123,000 miles.
“It was a little bit of a surprise,” said Laurence Doxsey, the San Antonio director of Environmental Policy.
Doxsey said he knew tourists would use the bicycles to travel to all the sites downtown but wasn’t sure at first how many residents would use the bikes.
"Well, it turns out our own residents are responsive to it as well," he said.
Thursday, Doxsey will ask the City Council to approve another $27,000 in federal grant money to go to expanding the B-Cycle program.
Doxsey said the goal, however, is to stop using tax dollars and have the non-profit program be self-sufficient.
If Gonzales' workload is any indication, the San Antonio bike share program is on the right road and soon should be able to stand on its own two wheels.
