College Park gets juiced up over bike share

College Parkers are invited to trade in their four-wheels for two, and pedal their way across Orlando as Orlando’s bike share program expands into the community.

Backed by a new name and 10-times more bikes, Orlando Bike Share – now re-branded as Juice Bike Share – will open two new share stations in College Park. The stations, one in front of the Edgewater Drive Publix and the other neighboring the downtown credo coffee shop, are two of 16 new stations added throughout Orlando that will open on May 1.

Andrea Kudlacz, executive director of the College Park Partnership, said she’s excited for the program to wheel into the community. She said she is hopeful that it’ll bring more customers into College Park businesses and restaurants from other surrounding areas served by the bike share program, such as Florida Hospital.

“It’ll be real easy for workers from Florida Hospital to bike over and have lunch in College Park,” she said.

Kudlacz said she is also excited for College Park residents to have access to the growing system and get around by ditching their cars and using pedal power to motor around.

“I’m very excited about it,” she said. “I think it will be very impactful.”

Each station has space for 14 bikes, which can be rented and returned to any of the 20 bike share locations spread across Orlando.

Sarah Elbadri, marketing director for Juice Bike Share, said the program eventually hopes to expand into Winter Park and Baldwin Park.

Changing the name from Orlando Bike Share to Juice Bike Share, she said, is to reflect Central Florida’s historical connection to the citrus industry. Now locals can start their day off with a fresh glass of orange juice and a leisurely ride on an orange Juice-branded bicycle.

To go along with the April 20 announcement of the service expanding from 20 bikes to 200 bikes, Eldadri said the program is now selling Founding Memberships, which include twice the free riding time of the other membership plans with 120 minutes a day. For daily riders, a juice-fueled bike ride will cost $6 an hour. Riders can book bikes ahead of time by registering at juicebikeshare.com

Juice Bike Share Program Director Peter Martinez told the Observer last year that we has inspired to bring bike sharing to Orlando after a trip to Washington, D.C. As he sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic, he said, he saw bikers whizzing by him while he remained at a standstill.

He said he hopes that people in Orlando will start to feel the same way as the local bike share program continues to grow.

“Once people see bikes cruising past them while they are stuck in traffic, just like I was that day back in Washington, D.C., people will learn there is a better way to get around,” he said.