Wichita State now has four Bike Share ICT stations located across campus and the Metropolitan Complex.

Bike Share ICT held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Rhatigan Student Center Wednesday, co-hosted by Strategic Communications and the City of Wichita.

Bike Share ICT is a bike transportation system that allows users to rent, ride, and return bikes at various locations across the city.

District II City Council Member Becky Tuttle welcomed a small crowd at the ceremony.

“We’ve had 23,822 rides on Bike Share ICT since we started back in May of 2017, and we have 10,400 members of Bike Share ICT,” Tuttle said. “And we hope that this will bring more members, and our students will enjoy membership.”

Mayor Jeff Longwell spoke briefly about how bike sharing makes the city of Wichita stronger.

“To become a vibrant city, we have to activate our city with opportunities like this, and so the reality is we appreciate the expansion of this bike share out here at Wichita State University,” Longwell said.

Collin Willis, a junior in media arts, said he’s been waiting for this day since he was on the Shocker Freshman Council two years ago. The council is a part of student government. It was there that the idea for bike sharing at WSU was initially discussed.

“Our main focus for the two semesters that I served on the Freshman Council was, ‘How do we engage with students? And how do we allow students to better engage with the university and with the city as a whole?’” Willis said. “And one of those ideas was to try and implement a bike share program for them.

“These bikes open up Wichita to all the students here, so students especially that don’t have cars that live on campus, now they can come and they have a vehicle — they have a bike they can take all around campus.”

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas funds the Bike Share ICT program.

“When we launched Blue Health initiatives of 2017, we wanted to make sure that people could live healthy lifestyles where they live, work, and play,” said Virginia Barnes, director of public health initiatives at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas.

The bike-share program uses Zagster to provide 205 bicycles for residents and visitors to use at stations throughout Wichita. To use a bike, riders download the Zagster app and choose their rental plan.

Each bike has a unique number that, when entered, opens the bike’s lockbox. Choose a bike, find the bike’s number, unlock it, and ride. Return the bike to any station, and lock it for the next rider. The Zagster app is available for iPhone and Android.

You can also borrow a bike by text message. Text the word “Start” and the bike’s number to 202-999-3924. You’ll receive a lockbox code and further instructions.

Student annual memberships are $20, and regular annual memberships are $30. Riders can also rent bikes for $3 an hour.

Current locations around Wichita include:

• Advanced Learning Library
• Auto Park
• Broadway and Mt. Vernon
• Central Riverside
• Cleveland and 1st Street
• Clifton Square
• Great Plains Nature Center
• Handley and Delano Path
• Hillside and Douglas
• Hydraulic and Douglas
• Madison and Douglas
• North YMCA
• OJ Watson Park
• River Vista
• Rutan and Douglas
• Revolutsia
• Sedgwick County Extension Office
• Sedgwick County Zoo
• Wichita Art Museum
• Wichita Transit Center
• Wichita Transit Administration Office
• Wichita State University: Heskett Center, Innovation Campus, Metroplex and Rhatigan Student Center
• West 11th and Bitting
• 1700 W. Douglas