A Raleigh bikeshare station was destroyed early Thursday when a car crashed into it
One of the city’s bikeshare stations was destroyed early Thursday morning after a BMW plowed into it on Hillsborough Street.
The car, a 2010 BMW sedan, drove off after hitting several bikes and the kiosk on the sidewalk in front of the Aloft hotel, across from the N.C. State University Memorial Belltower, said Raleigh police spokeswoman Laura Hourigan. Police found the car around the corner on Enterprise Street but have not located the driver, Hourigan said.
The crash took place at 2:53 a.m., she said, and police have no evidence to suggest it was intentional.
The station had docking units for 14 bicycles, and nine were damaged. The bikes and damaged equipment were removed Thursday morning.
The city’s self-service bikeshare system has 32 stations, mostly inside the Beltline and at the N.C. Museum of Art, offering 340 bicycles for short-term rental. The system is owned by the city and operated by a contractor, Bewegen Technologies, Inc.
Bewegen spokeswoman Michele Hood said the damaged station will be replaced. As for the 9 bikes, Hood said it doesn’t appear any of them are salvageable but that may change after a thorough assessment.
The system was launched in the spring of 2019 as Citrix Cycle and rebranded this spring as Cardinal Bikeshare. Since the beginning, people have taken 135,388 rides using the bicycles, according to the system website.
For information about Cardinal Bikeshare, including a map of stations, go to www.cardinalbikeshare.com/.
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 3:42 PM.
