Ride 4 Smilies held its full launch on the 12th of May, 2022 in the city of Fort Smith, with eight stations strategically located within the city. This is part of a pilot project, SMILIES (Shared Micromobility for Affordable-Accessible Housing), funded through the National Science Foundation grant awarded to the University of Arkansas’ College of Engineering.
The bike-share program has been designed to ease the transportation burden on low-income earners and provide them with more flexible transportation options. Currently, the stations feature traditional bikes with additional electric bikes to be added to the current fleet at a later date.
The launching event was covered by several media outlets. Some of these media publications are as listed below:
Times Record: https://www.swtimes.com/story/news/2022/05/12/ride-4-smilies-bike-share-program-launched-fort-smith/9715258002/
KNWA Fox 24: https://www.nwahomepage.com/river-valley-news/ride-4-smilies-program-launches-in-fort-smith/
Democrat Gazette: https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2022/may/15/bike-share-program-launches-in-fort-smith/