MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee's locally owned nonprofit bike share system, Bublr Bikes, is offering residents an affordable and sustainable way to get around the city — and it is growing.
Friday was National Bike to Work Day, and Wisconsin Bike Week is coming up the first week of June.
Ted Chisholm, the executive director of Bublr Bikes, said the organization's nonprofit status is central to its mission.
"One of the exciting things about Bublr Bikes is we are Milwaukee's nonprofit bike share, and that allows us to make sure that we provide an affordable service to anybody in our community who wants to use active, sustainable transportation to get around," Ted said.
Ted said bike share fills an important role in a city's transportation network, even for those who may not think of themselves as cyclists.
"We offer an option and so it's important for folks to have different options to get around, whether that's to work, to school, for recreational purposes, and bike share is one of the best options that's out there because it's healthy, it's active, and it's super efficient thanks to the really dense network of stations that we have both in the city of Milwaukee and in two of our larger suburbs, Wauwatosa and West Allis," Ted said.
The system operates year-round. Even on one of the coldest days in January, riders were commuting using Bublr Bikes.
"Year round we have people who ride with Bublr, so we maintain our stations in the city of Milwaukee in an active position year round. And so that allows us to really be a year-round service," Ted said.
WATCH: Nonprofit bike share system offers year-round, affordable rides for Milwaukee
Bublr Bikes is currently in the middle of a two-year expansion, in partnership with the city of Milwaukee.
"By the end of that process, at the end of 2027, we will have grown to 226 stations in our service area. And so that's going to make it easier for folks to get around. We're expanding into neighborhoods that previously were not served by Bublr, and we're also increasing the density of the stations that already exist to make this a more, really a more useful system for everybody in the area," Ted said.
With festival season approaching in southeastern Wisconsin, Bublr Bikes stations also offer a convenient option for getting to events like Summerfest. The system is also expanding its e-bike offerings.
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