Minnesota Bike-Sharing Service Expanding to Rochester

ROCHESTER --  A Minnesota bike-sharing service is expanding to Rochester.

Nice Ride Minnesota will open two Rochester locations in August. The expansion follows program launches in the Twin Cities and Bemidji.

Operations manager Kim Edens of Nice Ride Rochester says the southeastern Minnesota city's many parks and trails make Rochester ideal for bike sharing.

City planners approached Nice Ride officials several years ago about bringing the bike service to Rochester. But a lack of bike-friendly infrastructure initially delayed the effort.

An official program launch is scheduled for Aug. 19. But Edens says it's possible the bikes might be available the first week of August.

Nice Ride debuted in Minneapolis in 2010. Since then the service has been used for more than 2 million bike trips in Minnesota.
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