CapMetro bike-share service remains offline after Austin facility fire

More than 400 electric bicycles remain off Austin streets nearly three weeks after a fire damaged the batteries and charging infrastructure behind Capital Metro’s bike rental program — and the agency says it doesn’t know when service will return. The bikes have been out of service since May 23, when the fire broke out at a CapMetro facility in South Austin. The agency suspended rentals the next morning, citing a “disruption to service.” The suspension has left the system’s 84 docking stations across Central and East Austin empty, halting the 700 to 1,200 bike rentals CapMetro typically records each day. In the meantime, the agency has hired engineering firm Rimkus to conduct a forensic investigation into what caused the fire. “We made a decision early on: Let’s bring in some folks from the outside — experts — to tell us what happened so that we can create a plan going forward, so that when we restore and resume services, we can do so in a very safe and reliable manner,” Art Jackson, CapMetro’s vice president of demand response, said in an interview. Rimkus declined to comment. Just after 10 p.m., May 23, Austin firefighters responded to the CapMetro facility at East Ben White Boulevard and Judson Road. Multiple 911 callers reported heavy white smoke coming from the building, and when the first engine arrived, firefighters found smoke pouring out of the eaves. Firefighters forced open the facility’s front doors and went inside, but they backed out after finding that “there was zero visibility and high heat” about 10 feet in, according to an Austin Fire Department incident report. After firefighters cut open a set of roll-up doors at the back of the building for ventilation, the smoke cleared and firefighters were able to find the seat of the blaze in a storage room “full of batteries, most of which were probably E-bike batteries,” according to the report. Not only does CapMetro need to replace charging infrastructure — Jackson’s team is already shopping for some of the equipment, he said — but the agency also wants to ensure it fully understands the circumstances surrounding the fire before putting the bikes back on the street. The agency relaunched its bike rental program with an all-electric fleet in 2024.