People took a record 157 million trips on shared bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters in 2023, the National Association of City Transportation Officials says in its recently completed survey of urban micro-mobility trends. That marked a 20% increase from 2022 and a third consecutive year of growth.
Philadelphia's bikeshare, Indego, exceeded one million rides last year for the first time in its 8 1/2 -year history and is expanding its network of docking stations.
But, while public transit, highways and streets are supported by government, most shared mobility systems are run by private companies or nonprofits and depend on investors or philanthropy.
"Riders essentially pay the full cost of their ride every time," said Camille Boggan, a program manager for policy and practice at NACTO.
Unstable funding has led a number of cities' bikeshares to cease operations — some of them temporarily, others for good, the report says. It recommends more government support.
For example, Houston's nonprofit BCycle closed down June 30, unable to raise funds as ridership took a big hit during the pandemic. Cincinnati's Red Bike went out of business in March; the public raised $500,000 to reopen it, but the system faces an uncertain future. And Lyft shuttered its extensive station-based bike share system last year in Minneapolis after losing a corporate sponsorship.
Meanwhile, prices have risen steadily along with operating costs. In July, CitiBike in New York raised e-bike fares by 20%. Users there now pay up to $15.99 for a 30-minute trip.
Indego, Philly's sole bikeshare, is heading in the opposite direction in part, bringing back the popular single-ride pass this month after a six-year absence. The pass will sharply lower the cost for users who want to take short, one-way rides.
"I think it will save people money. We've been hearing for a long time that people wanted a more cost-accessible option," said Nate Bowman-Johnston, general manager for Indego, operated by Bicycle Transit Systems. "That's what we hope we're providing."
Before the change, the cheapest available Indego rate was a $15 day pass, which proved to be "out of the price range" for many, Bowman-Johnston said.
As a result, Philadelphia was among the most expensive among 19 big-city bikeshare programs, according to an analysis by Bloomberg's CityLab news site, which compared costs for 30-minute rides on a pedal bicycle and an e-bike vs. public transit fares.
SEPTA's basic subway fare is $2, while the news outlet calculated that a half-hour ride on a traditional bike was $15, and $21 on an e-bike, which are more expensive to buy and have higher operating costs.
Now, a single-ride pass on Indego costs $4.50 for 30 minutes on a classic bike, with an additional fee of 30 cents a minute for e-bikes. (Indego does not offer e-scooters, which are not street legal in Pennsylvania.)
"That puts them squarely in the middle on affordability," said Boggan, of the transportation officials' association, noting a demand for short trips that was reflected in Indego riders bemoaning the loss of single-ride passes.
They are "a practical solution for one-way trips that are paired with transit and [motor vehicle] rideshare," said Waffiyah Murray, Indego program manager in the city's Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems OTIS, which owns and oversees the bikeshare.
No taxpayer money goes toward Indego operations. Revenue comes from longer-term passes that act like subscriptions, user fees, advertising and sponsorship by Independence Blue Cross. For-profit Bicycle Transit Systems, which also operates systems in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, handles maintenance and runs the show.
Though its contract says the city doesn't cover operating expenses, "we partner really closely with OTIS," Bowman-Johnston said. The agency obtains state and federal grant money dedicated for micro-mobility to help fund capital projects and expansion. "In the end we carry the financial risk," Bowman-Johnston said.
Taking care of e-bikes, a growing share of rides, is labor intensive and costly. Workers need to retrieve dead batteries and take them to warehouses for recharging — most systems, including Indego's do not have power for that task at docking stations — and put the batteries back in the bikes, NACTO's Boggan said.
Then there is the matter of keeping up with e-bike technology.
"There's a new model out every couple of years because the technology is upgraded," Boggan said. "And once a vendor for those e-bikes stops supporting it, you have to get the upgrade to the new model. It's kind of like an iPhone."
Indego had offered a single ride pass until 2018 but ended it after a rash of fraud and stolen bikes.
Some Philadelphia riders would set up false Indego accounts with stolen credit cards and even gift cards, then use the mobile app to check bikes out but never return them, Bowman-Johnston said. Since then, app security has been tightened, he said, and it was safe to bring back the pass.
Indego aims to expand to 375 docking stations by 2027, up from about 250 now, and to build the bike fleet to about 3,000 bikes. Key areas for new service include Mill Creek/Parkside, Kingsessing, Kensington/ Richmond, Wynnefield/Overbrook and upper East Falls, the company says.
The NACTO report made three recommendations to keep bikeshare programs growing in North America: investing public money in capital and operating costs to make the service more affordable to use, in line with train and bus fares; eliminating sales taxes on shared mobility; and building out bike-lane networks in communities.
Los Angeles Metro, for instance, subsidizes bike share to such an extent that pay-as-you-go fares for transit, classic bikes and e-bikes are each $1.75. Washington, D.C., prices classic rides at $2.50 and e-bike rides at $5.50, compared with its $2.25 transit fare.
San Francisco recently started subsidizing its Bay Wheels bike share program using a federal climate grant, spending money on docking station electrification. It has been able to lower the price of its annual pass by 20%, Boggan said.
© 2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
