Brian Payne
Columbus Municipal Airport is thinking about creating a program that would encourage airpark visitors to explore the area in a new way.
According to airport director Brian Payne, Columbus Municipal Airport has purchased 10 ColumBike bicycles from the Columbus Bicycle Co-Op. Another five were donated to the Columbus Propeller makerspace, which is located at the airport.
Payne, who is also a Propeller board member, said he’s thinking about having the bikes available for free use and creating a bike trail system around the airport.
“We want it just, again, to be an opportunity where people can see the airpark in a different way and go from the airport over to the campus and around all of the trails that we spend so much time and effort on making beautiful for the general public,” he said.
Payne recently shared the idea with the Columbus Board of Aviation Commissioners and said that they seemed supportive but would like more details. He plans to bring more information forward at the board’s next meeting in September.
The bicycles were formerly part of ColumBike, the city’s defunct bike-share program, which ceased operation in 2019 due to declining ridership.
Moving forward, they’ll be working to remove the old logos from both the airport’s bikes and those at Propeller, Payne said. The airport is also considering what logos to add to the bikes and what kind of bike locks to use.
