Explore Bike Share

As I grow accustomed to the uncertainty of our current situation, I recognize and applaud the examples of long-term continuity in our culture.

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Waterloo, Wisconsin – Nov. 8, 2018 – Building on a 10-year tradition of experience and innovation, BCycle proudly introduces the bike share industry’s newest and most innovative electric bike – the BCycle Electric.

Starting this week, BCycle will pilot the new electric bike in six locations this fall and winter to include programs in Austin, Texas, Broward County, Florida, Cincinnati, Ohio, Madison, Wisconsin, Los Angeles, California, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The new electric bike differentiates BCycle with the following best-in-class features:

• Bosch motor and display
• Shimano 3-speed internal hub
• Seamless integration into existing BCycle stations
  

 

BCycle was founded in 2008 and remains the only continuously operating U.S. bike share provider during the past decade. It has grown from launching the first system in Denver in 2010 with 300 first-generation bikes to now with more than 15,000 bikes across the United States – from first-generation bikes to smart bikes to the latest introduction of electric bikes.

“The first 10 years are just the beginning,” said Morgan Ramaker, BCycle’s new Executive Director. “BCycle continues to grow and lead – thanks to proven experience and success, innovative and best-in-class products, and superior customer service. We’ve always believed in the power of the bicycle to change the world – the BCycle Electric powers up those possibilities even more.”

The electric bike is the latest in a string of innovations from BCycle in the past decade, including:

• Partnering with community stakeholders in programs ranging from small to large, private to public
• Classic systems with smart stations
• Smart bike with turn-by-turn navigation
• Mobile app checkout
• Transit and student integration

 

BCycle riders have taken more than 17 million trips. All BCycle bikes are designed by Waterloo, Wisconsin-based Trek.

For more information on BCycle, visit www.bcycle.com and download the BCycle app in the App Store or Google Play Store.

ABOUT BCYCLE Headquartered in Waterloo, Wisconsin, BCycle develops and delivers best-in-class bike share systems and is committed to providing an environmentally sustainable transportation alternative for cities. It’s BCycle’s mission to partner with campuses, corporations and municipalities of all sizes to implement and maintain bike share systems that complement and improve existing transportation infrastructure. The company does so with a suite of products that make riding the easiest and most enjoyable part of people’s day, and an incredibly impactful part of any public transportation network. For more information, visit www.bcycle.com.

Feature available on all BCycle Dash advanced smart bikes

WATERLOO, WISCONSIN – Sept. 5, 2018 – BCycle Dash smart bikes just got even smarter. On the heels of a four-city launch of Dash, BCycle has introduced the advanced smart bike’s latest feature: turn-by-turn directions that guide riders to their destinations via city-designated bike routes.

 

BCycle’s turn-by-turn directions offer both clear, easy-to-read instructions on the heads-up display, and audible directions to the rider on a moving bicycle. Today, BCycle becomes the first bike share provider to offer this feature.

 

“Launching turn-by-turn directions is further evidence of BCycle’s commitment to developing and delivering best-in-class bike share systems,” said BCycle President Bob Burns. “We’re looking forward to having more cities add BCycle Dash to their systems to make the turn-by-turn directions available to even more people.”

 

Currently, riders in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Memphis, Tennessee; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Tulsa, Oklahoma, have access to the turn-by-turn directions with more cities being added.

 

Here’s how it works. Checkout any Dash bike using the BCycle app and tap the "Where to?" button. Follow the prompts to select your route. Store your phone and follow the heads up, on-screen directions on the smart bike.  

 

This new feature further differentiates BCycle Dash from other smart bikes. Among its many features, BCycle Dash has the ability to be docked at conventional bike racks, at its own Dash dock, or next to a station if there are no available docks. BCycle Dash incorporates elements that firmly establish bike share as a critical component of a community’s transit system offerings.

 

BCycle worked with Mapbox to create turn by turn directions for Dash. "Mapbox is helping BCycle to offer consumers the next generation of smart shared bicycles with connected turn-by-turn navigation for increased convenience and safety,” said Jay Cox-Chapman, Navigation Product Lead, Mapbox. “BCycle has also partnered with Mapbox to extend Mapbox’s Navigation SDK and plans to open-source these changes in the near future. We are excited to be part of BCycle's industry-leading navigation experience."

 

BCycle currently has more than 15,000 bikes on the ground and riders have taken over 16 million trips. All BCycle bikes are designed by Waterloo,Wisconsin-based Trek.

 

For more information on BCycle, visit www.bcycle.com and download the BCycle app in the App Store or Google Play Store.

Cutting-Edge Smart Bikes to Launch in Arts District



TULSA, OKLAHOMA - Tulsa will be one of the first communities in the U.S. to have a dockless smart bike system. Tulsa Bike Share will launch This Machine, bringing 75 bikes and 5 stations to the Arts District, with plans to expand to more neighborhoods soon. 

“With the launch of This Machine on July 27, Tulsa will take a significant step forward in becoming a more walkable, bike-friendly community that provides meaningful alternative transportation access to its citizens and visitors,” said Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum.  “Having a world-class bike sharing system will build upon the City’s recent investments in transit through Vision Tulsa, and ensure Tulsa has the transportation amenities that visitors expect – and our citizens deserve.”

This Machine will be one of only four systems in the U.S. to launch with BCycle Dash, a new smart bike technology with an integrated touch screen display developed by Trek Bicycles. While requiring higher capital investments, smart bikes forgo a traditional, dock-based system that allows for more flexible travel.

The launch, which represents more than two years of planning by the City of Tulsa and INCOG, will be announced at Saint Francis Tulsa Tough, in partnership with Tulsa Bike Share’s primary sponsor, the William K. Warren Foundation and Saint Francis Health System.

“The William K. Warren Foundation and Saint Francis Health System view bicycle access as a tool in meeting Tulsa’s transportation and recreation needs, and as a way to better promote physical activity and wellness,” said Tom Cooper, William K. Warren Foundation President.  “We helped introduce the region’s first bike sharing system, the Tulsa Townies, along River Parks in August 2007.  We are proud to support This Machine in 2018, and play a part in expanding this access to a greater number of Tulsans and visitors to our community.”

This Machine’s system will expand to Blue Dome, East Village, Greenwood, OSU-Tulsa, Deco District, Cathedral District, and Route 66/University of Tulsa, with 160 bikes and 25 stations in the following weeks. Additional expansions are anticipated in 2019 and 2020.

Users can access the bikes from the BCycle mobile application on any smartphone. Rides will be free for the first week; after that, 30-minute single ride passes will cost $2 per trip. A three-day pass will also be available, along with monthly, annual, and founding memberships. Membership includes access to other B-Cycle systems across the country.

Bike share systems are a key indicator of a city’s connectivity and accessibility, and a component that young professionals and corporations look to in evaluating a community.  Bike sharing is an increasingly popular way for residents and visitors to experience a city; more than 35 million bike share trips were taken in 2017, up more than 25 percent from the previous year. 

This Machine will play an important role in the City’s transportation network, which in recent years has been at the forefront of development and planning by INCOG. “INCOG understands the importance of creating a transportation network that includes all forms of mode share -- bicycle, pedestrian, bus and automobile,” said Jane Ziegler, Transportation Planner for INCOG. “INCOG, with the input of 11 regional cities, including Tulsa, have created a regional bicycle/pedestrian master plan that will safely connect Tulsa’s surrounding suburbs to its business and entertainment districts.”

With its smart bike system, Tulsa joins Memphis, Colorado Springs, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in offering this new cutting-edge technology.

We are thrilled to finally be launching This Machine’s first 75 bikes,” said Daniel Sperle, Executive Director of Tulsa Bike Share.  “Volunteers have spent countless hours building bikes, placing decals, and serving as ambassadors for the program. We are proud to launch a bike share program that is on the cutting edge of bike share technology that will transform how visitors and residents experience Tulsa.”

More information on This Machine can be found online at: thismachine.bcycle.com

About Tulsa Bike Share:

Tulsa Bike Share is a nonprofit organization created as a public-private partnership between the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG), the City of Tulsa, and private sponsors, with a mission  to provide a safe, equitable, alternative transportation option to Tulsa residents and visitors. The name “This Machine” is a nod to Tulsa’s rich pop culture history.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE—Explore Bike Share, a nonprofit which launched a 60-station, 600-bike bike share system in Memphis this spring, is celebrating its first month of serving the Memphis community through engagement with a new, affordable form of public transportation.

The system launched on May 23 with The Big Roll-Out, a public celebratory event which engaged hundreds of volunteers to distribute the bike share bikes by riding in teams to stations within the service area.

“We launched Explore Bike Share after years of research and preparation including being on the ground talking to Memphians about their hopes, their needs, and how civic programs can serve them best,” said Trey Moore, Executive Director of Explore Bike Share. “Our 501(c)3’s mission to improve the health, culture, transportation and tourism of our community relies on the quantitative and the qualitative. It’s about feeding over 80 residents in South City with bike knowledge and barbecue plates, it’s employees whose personal economies are impacted by a new ride to work, and it’s about the new public art programs that Explore Bike Share will both fund and help foster.”

Explore Bike Share has formed strong partnerships with community organizations such as JUICE Orange Mound, Revolutions Bicycle CoOp, Knowledge Quest, The CLTV, and The Carpenter Art Garden by funding their community engagement programming in the service area as a pathway to ensuring bike share meets the needs and wants of each neighborhood, is accessible and affordable and authentic to the communities’ culture and Memphis as a whole.

"We’re establishing relationships and financially investing in them because they’re the fabric of Explore Bike Share’s model,” said Sara Studdard, Community Engagement and Marketing Director of Explore Bike Share. “Through these partnerships, Memphians all over have helped us create something our communities can rally around, because it offers people new, accessible options that were previously unavailable. These partnerships are our keystones, as Explore Bike Share’s success depends upon the greater community’s success.”

Britney Thornton, founder of JUICE Orange Mound, the homegrown funding source of the Orange Mound community, has organized two Explore Bike Share weekend events in Orange Mound with more planned this summer and fall.

“Explore Bike Share’s commitment to my community shows that they value providing not only resources but also equity and access,” said Thornton. “Many Orange Mound residents had never before considered bicycles beyond being a means of transportation. Now, together, with this new tool and infrastructure, we are able to strengthen our community by leveraging bikes to engage and mobilize current residents. We are eager to build a solid bike culture that transforms our previously disengaged community to a high-functioning, knowledgeable, and connected neighborhood in the city.”

Kevin Woods, Memphis Market President of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, believes this community engagement focus, coupled with the health benefits of biking, will ultimately uplift Memphis in ways beyond transportation.

“Explore Bike Share is a tremendous opportunity for the mobility and wellness of Memphians because it offers a fun, practical, and affordable way to get around,” said Kevin Woods, Memphis Market President for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. “We hope our neighbors will use this exciting resource to get active and engaged with one another in not only physical fitness, but also exploration of our great city.”

As of the morning of June 20, 2018 approximately 2,950 Memphis residents and visitors have collectively burned over 1,095,967 calories, taking 6,423 rides covering 26,078 miles’ distance between Explore Bike Share’s 60 stations spanning from Downtown, West Memphis, South Memphis, and Cooper Young to Orange Mound, Overton Square, and Crosstown.

“Adoption has happened much faster than expected, and we believe it’s a byproduct of over two years of research and community groundwork,” Moore added.

Increased bike traffic in city commercial centers has translated into increased traffic into local businesses.

Memphis Made Brewing, for example, has a long history of supporting bicycle culture in the city, leading to its earning a silver bike friendly business designation from The League of American Cyclists. When Explore Bike Share approached co-owners Andy Ashby and Drew Barton about installing a docking station near the brewery's tap room entrance, they jumped at the chance.

“We’ve been early adopters in the biking community and are excited to see so many people riding down Cooper Street," Ashby said. "People use the bikes at our station all the time to ride around our neighborhood or to get to Overton Square. We're happy to see people taking advantage of this amenity."

“We have a docking station right in front of our entrance, and people are always coming and going,” said Andy Ashby, co-founder and Vice President of Memphis Made Brewing Co. “We’ve been early adopters in the biking community and are excited to see so many riding down Cooper to take in surroundings, see inside our taproom when rolling by, and dock bikes to come in and have a beer on a whim. Many places in Cooper-Young, and Overton Square too, now have that opportunity.”

Explore Bike Share has already reached over 50% of its annualized membership projection in month one of operation with 544 number of monthly and annual members.

“Of course we feel the numbers are important, but as a 501(c)3 with a mission of encouraging Memphians to engage with their communities and communities outside of their own, it’s about the people first and foremost,” Trey Moore said. “Our community partnerships, a dedicated staff, and the amazingly patient and supportive bike share users from Memphis and beyond have exceeded our expectations. I feel a great optimism for Explore Bike Share’s future.”

STATS AT A GLANCE:
As of June 20, 2018

Total number of monthly and annual members: 544
Total number of users: 2,950
Total number of bike trips: 6,423
Total distance: 27,503 miles
Estimated total carbon offset: 26,078
Estimated total calories burned: 1,095,967
Top ridership by station:

·       Overton Park
·       Big River Crossing (East)
·       Beale Street Landing
·       Court Square
·       Crosstown Concourse
·       Memphis Park
·       Loflin Yard
·       Front & Beale
·       Hudson Transit Center
·       South Main & Talbot



ABOUT EXPLORE BIKE SHARE. Explore Bike Share is a Memphis 501(c)3 that has implemented a robust bike share system and transportation tool to advance the city on multiple fronts—including but not limited to transportation, tourism, health, environment, and culture—with access to as many Memphians as possible. Initially launched with a 600-bike system in May 2018, the system will expand to 900 bikes by 2019. For more information, visit explorebikeshare.com.