#bikeshare — Public Fediverse posts

$364 is how much I saved by using bike share and the bus over 4 days. Just by not paying for parking.

#Transportation #BikeShare #Bus #he_BikeAsTransportion #he_bus #Milwaukee #Wisconsin

$364 is how much I saved by using bike share and the bus over 4 days. Just by not paying for parking.

#Transportation #BikeShare #Bus #he_BikeAsTransportion #he_bus #Milwaukee #Wisconsin

$364 is how much I saved by using bike share and the bus over 4 days. Just by not paying for parking.

#Transportation #BikeShare #Bus #he_BikeAsTransportion #he_bus #Milwaukee #Wisconsin

$364 is how much I saved by using bike share and the bus over 4 days. Just by not paying for parking.

#Transportation #BikeShare #Bus #he_BikeAsTransportion #he_bus #Milwaukee #Wisconsin

$364 is how much I saved by using bike share and the bus over 4 days. Just by not paying for parking.

#Transportation #BikeShare #Bus #he_BikeAsTransportion #he_bus #Milwaukee #Wisconsin

A couple weeks ago we visited Vancouver and were spoiled for choice when it came to transportation options. Lots of trip chaining, exploring, and even filming a couple new rides on Mobi bikes. #bikeyvr #biketooter #micromobility #bikeshare #publicTransit

A couple weeks ago we visited Vancouver and were spoiled for choice when it came to transportation options. Lots of trip chaining, exploring, and even filming a couple new rides on Mobi bikes. #bikeyvr #biketooter #micromobility #bikeshare #publicTransit

Bicycled the Root River Trail from Rushford to Peterson again.

7 bicyclists
7 electric bikes
1 recumbent

Just birds and 1 very young squirrel.

#BikeTooter #Bicycling #Biking #Cycling #PedalCycling #RootRiverTrail #Rushford #RushfordBikeShare #BikeShare #RushfordPublicLibrary #PublicLibrary
#Minnesota #MNastodon

Bicycled the Root River Trail from Rushford to Peterson again.

7 bicyclists
7 electric bikes
1 recumbent

Just birds and 1 very young squirrel.

#BikeTooter #Bicycling #Biking #Cycling #PedalCycling #RootRiverTrail #Rushford #RushfordBikeShare #BikeShare #RushfordPublicLibrary #PublicLibrary
#Minnesota #MNastodon

Bicycled the Root River Trail from Rushford to Peterson again.

7 bicyclists
7 electric bikes
1 recumbent

Just birds and 1 very young squirrel.

#BikeTooter #Bicycling #Biking #Cycling #PedalCycling #RootRiverTrail #Rushford #RushfordBikeShare #BikeShare #RushfordPublicLibrary #PublicLibrary
#Minnesota #MNastodon

Bicycled the Root River Trail from Rushford to Peterson again.

7 bicyclists
7 electric bikes
1 recumbent

Just birds and 1 very young squirrel.

#BikeTooter #Bicycling #Biking #Cycling #PedalCycling #RootRiverTrail #Rushford #RushfordBikeShare #BikeShare #RushfordPublicLibrary #PublicLibrary
#Minnesota #MNastodon

Bicycled the Root River Trail from Rushford to Peterson again.

7 bicyclists
7 electric bikes
1 recumbent

Just birds and 1 very young squirrel.

#BikeTooter #Bicycling #Biking #Cycling #PedalCycling #RootRiverTrail #Rushford #RushfordBikeShare #BikeShare #RushfordPublicLibrary #PublicLibrary
#Minnesota #MNastodon

Both my bicycles need to go into the shop. So checked out this Rushford Bike Share bicycle from the Rushford Public Library.

These aren't available from mid-October to April. Still nice to have it as an option.

Note: Bicycles with coaster brakes don't stop when you pull on the handlebars non-existent brakes.

#BikeTooter #Bicycling #Biking #Cycling #PedalCycling #BikeShare #Rushford #Minnesota #RushfordBikeShare #RushfordPublicLibrary #z_lib #PublicLibrary

Both my bicycles need to go into the shop. So checked out this Rushford Bike Share bicycle from the Rushford Public Library.

These aren't available from mid-October to April. Still nice to have it as an option.

Note: Bicycles with coaster brakes don't stop when you pull on the handlebars non-existent brakes.

#BikeTooter #Bicycling #Biking #Cycling #PedalCycling #BikeShare #Rushford #Minnesota #RushfordBikeShare #RushfordPublicLibrary #z_lib #PublicLibrary

I rode a Bikeshare ebike, from downtown up to the Aga Khan museum. 16 km distance, gently uphill. To meet up with a friend for dinner. Normally I would have taken TTC, as I didn't want to arrive sweaty. But the battery-assist allowed me to cruise along at a comfortable 22 km/h pace, almost entirely along the Don Valley trail system.

Fabulous.
#Toronto #Bikeshare

I rode a Bikeshare ebike, from downtown up to the Aga Khan museum. 16 km distance, gently uphill. To meet up with a friend for dinner. Normally I would have taken TTC, as I didn't want to arrive sweaty. But the battery-assist allowed me to cruise along at a comfortable 22 km/h pace, almost entirely along the Don Valley trail system.

Fabulous.
#Toronto #Bikeshare

Lime’s new ‘LimeBike’ model is shaped like the Glider, but with adjustable seat and pedals – UPDATED: It’s really good

Lime has launched 500 new “LimeBikes” in Seattle, a new model with smaller wheels and a lower center of gravity compared to the company’s existing “Gen 4 E-Bike,” resulting in a bike that looks a lot like the company’s sit-down scooter they call the LimeGlider.

The new LimeBike, with a name harkening back to the company’s pre-scooter days, should be more stable when carrying weight in the basket. The bike hopefully will also be less likely to fall over and block sidewalks due to its lower center of mass. Like the Gen 4 E-bike, the LimeBike motor will activate via pedal-assist and throttle, whichever the user chooses. The form factor may also draw wider appeal since it may be less intimidating to some users than a bike with full-size wheels. The LimeGliders have seen lots of use since they launched, for example, and may be attracting users over the Gen 4 E-Bikes that look more like traditional bikes. The Glider has been able to bridge the gap between a bike and a stand-up scooter, and it will be very interesting to see if the new LimeBike can appeal to scooter users in a way the existing bikes do not.

UPDATE 5/11: I finally tracked one down, and oh boy it is very good (no, this post is NOT sponsored). My biggest fear was that it would be a scooter with worthless pedals attached so that it would count as a bicycle like the Veo “bikes” from a few years ago, and I am very happy to report that this is not at all the case. The new LimeBike is the best bike share bike I’ve ever tried, and it’s not even close. I took it on the same extreme test loop I have taken nearly every other micromobility device: Up Spring Street from 2nd to 4th Avenues downtown for a worst case climbing test, then down Madison from 4th to 2nd for a worst case braking test. If a bike can handle this loop, then it can handle anything. Not only did the new LimeBike perform flawlessly, I was able to pedal up these ridiculously steep hills at 12 mph without significant effort. It also easily passed the hardest test of all: Getting started on a steep uphill (many devices have failed this one). Perhaps due to the smaller wheels the bike seemed to have a lot more torque than any other micromobility device I’ve ever tried, which helps with climbing and getting started from a stop. The bike’s pedal assist feels more responsive and natural than the Gen 4 E-Bike it is replacing, so I didn’t feel compelled to even touch the throttle. But beyond power, it was just so comfortable.

The new seat post adjustment latch seems unnecessarily large at first glance, but it’s so intuitive and easy to use to get the saddle at the right height. For a bike where you’ll probably want to adjust this every time you ride, this design is brilliant (assuming it holds up well with time and wear). The lower stepover height makes the thing even more approachable. The lower cargo area is also great, though it is not a cycletruck-style design as I had initially thought it was. I thought the basket was attached to the frame, but it does move with the fork when turning. However, it didn’t feel like the handlebars wanted to flop to the side when there was stuff in it. Thanks to the pedals, the LimeBike is much more zippy than its similar-looking cousin, the LimeGlider sit-down scooter, and on flat ground I was comfortably able to pedal beyond 15 mph, the point that the electric motor stops providing assistance. The bike felt good to ride even without the motor whirring, which is not something I can say about any other shared e-bike I’ve tried. Honestly, I think if they sold this thing in stores people would buy it. You could happily and comfortably ride it for hours around town (buy a LimePass minute bundle or subscribe to LimePrime rather than paying by the minute if you’re going to do this). I had high hopes for this design, and it blew my expectations away.

They are a bit difficult to track down. As of now, only 500 of Lime’s 4,000 bikes in Seattle will be the new model. In the Lime app, the LimeBike does have a slightly different icon from the Gen 4 E-Bike and the Glider if you are determined to track one down yourself (if you’re doing so today, downtown might be your best bet as I saw several down there this morning).

Back to the original story:

At least on paper, the LimeBike addresses my biggest issues with the LimeGlider. Perhaps because I am so used to biking, I do not like the lack of an adjustable-height seat on the Glider and the fact that it feels kind of awkward to stand while riding it. It feel much more comfortable and in-control when I am seated higher, though this is likely a matter of personal preference. The Glider can also struggle a bit going up the steepest hills. The new LimeBike has pedals, so you should be able to help it up hills, and it has an adjustable-height seat. I have not yet had a chance to test ride the new LimeBike, but I will attempt to hunt one down and will update when I do.

As someone who rides bikes every day, I really like the Gen 4 E-Bike. The company is only replacing 500 of their 4,000 Seattle e-bikes with the new model at this time, so the company will keep the Gen 4 bikes in operation for a while longer. However, the new bike fits better into their operations, so if it is a success they will likely phase out the old bikes eventually. The Gen 4 bike was based heavily on the JUMP bike design that the company inherited when it acquired its competitor in the early days of the pandemic in 2020. It’s a solid tank of a bike with good brakes and zippy acceleration. But ridership is consistently higher on the scooters than the bikes, so I am open to the idea that what I am personally seeking is not in step with the average person.

The bike industry seems to be leaning toward bikes with 20-inch wheels, which have a lot of practical advantages over larger wheel sizes even if they take bumps a tiny bit harder. They can more easily fit shorter riders, for example. It is also easier to mount cargo to the frame rather than the fork. It is also easier to get high torque/low gearing, a high-demand bike spec in hilly Seattle. Our family cargo bike is a Tern GSD, which has two 20-inch wheels and is fantastic at hauling anything and anyone I put on it. This isn’t to say 20-inch wheels are always better, but mini velos are having a moment. Rodriguez makes a pretty cool one here in Seattle called the Pony Keg. They also have one called the 6-Pack covered in couplings so it can fit inside a 20″ x 20″ suitcase. (No, they do not sponsor me, I just think these are really cool).

Lime’s Seattle ridership continues to climb to levels few would have predicted even five years ago. Their bikes and scooters carried 57,000 people on the day of the Seahawks parade in February, which is on par with the number of cars that drive across the Aurora Bridge. Data that Lime reports to SDOT shows that the company carried 943,200 trips in April, a 43% increase over April 2025, which itself was a 115% increase over April 2024. To date (through May 7), Seattle is at 3,218,800 trips in 2026, and Bike Month just began. The summer months are when Lime ridership usually balloons. These are astounding numbers, showing that Lime is a serious part of our city’s year-round transportation system now.

With competitor Bird no longer operating in Seattle as of this month, Lime seems to have officially won Seattle’s 9-year shared micromobility cage match. It may be time to revisit our city’s relationship with Lime since our existing permit system is written to encourage competition, yet it’s not clear who else is in a position to compete with Lime at this time. It is a great thing for micromobility that Lime seems to have figured out how to make this work, but it’s also not usually good for users when one company has a monopoly. Seattle may want to figure out how it can ensure Lime’s success also benefits Seattle residents into the future.

#SEAbikes #Seattle

J'aime le design des stations @[email protected] !😍 Love the design of Mulo stations !😍 🚲 📷 @[email protected] @ @[email protected] #velocargo #cargobike #velomtl #bikemtl #velopartage #bikeshare #montreal

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vw6w3ygkisxixyo36dqglxrh/post/3mkkl6lq7lc2x

J'aime le design des stations @[email protected] !😍 Love the design of Mulo stations !😍 🚲 📷 @[email protected] @ @[email protected] #velocargo #cargobike #velomtl #bikemtl #velopartage #bikeshare #montreal

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vw6w3ygkisxixyo36dqglxrh/post/3mkkl6lq7lc2x

I like that they repurposed this to be a regular bicycle parking rack, but really wish it was still a bike share dock. Bike share is transformative for people's perceptions about how useful bicycles can be.

#BikeShare #BicycleParkingAudit #BicycleParkingRack #BicycleParking #Bicycling #Rochester #Minnesota

I like that they repurposed this to be a regular bicycle parking rack, but really wish it was still a bike share dock. Bike share is transformative for people's perceptions about how useful bicycles can be.

#BikeShare #BicycleParkingAudit #BicycleParkingRack #BicycleParking #Bicycling #Rochester #Minnesota

📢 Empres #BiciPalma? És el teu moment per dir a l'Ajuntament com va el servei!

➡️ https://forms.gle/zL5zF2ooBQmK5keGA

#Mobilitat #Sostenible #Bici #Bicicleta #Palma #CarrilBici #Bicicletes #BiciPública #BikeShare

📢 Empres #BiciPalma? És el teu moment per dir a l'Ajuntament com va el servei!

➡️ https://forms.gle/zL5zF2ooBQmK5keGA

#Mobilitat #Sostenible #Bici #Bicicleta #Palma #CarrilBici #Bicicletes #BiciPública #BikeShare

📢 Empres #BiciPalma? És el teu moment per dir a l'Ajuntament com va el servei!

➡️ https://forms.gle/zL5zF2ooBQmK5keGA

#Mobilitat #Sostenible #Bici #Bicicleta #Palma #CarrilBici #Bicicletes #BiciPública #BikeShare

📢 Empres #BiciPalma? És el teu moment per dir a l'Ajuntament com va el servei!

➡️ https://forms.gle/zL5zF2ooBQmK5keGA

#Mobilitat #Sostenible #Bici #Bicicleta #Palma #CarrilBici #Bicicletes #BiciPública #BikeShare

📢 Empres #BiciPalma? És el teu moment per dir a l'Ajuntament com va el servei!

➡️ https://forms.gle/zL5zF2ooBQmK5keGA

#Mobilitat #Sostenible #Bici #Bicicleta #Palma #CarrilBici #Bicicletes #BiciPública #BikeShare

...promises almost half a billion $ for bicycle infrastructure over the next decade. That sounds great, but the devil is in the details.

Funding to Bixi, the popular #bikeshare program, decreases from $14M to $5.5M over next 5 years; budget for bike path expansion cut by $10M.

https://www.ledevoir.com/actualites/transports-urbanisme/947499/coup-frein-developpement-reseau-cyclable-montreal

...promises almost half a billion $ for bicycle infrastructure over the next decade. That sounds great, but the devil is in the details.

Funding to Bixi, the popular #bikeshare program, decreases from $14M to $5.5M over next 5 years; budget for bike path expansion cut by $10M.

https://www.ledevoir.com/actualites/transports-urbanisme/947499/coup-frein-developpement-reseau-cyclable-montreal

Status of my favorite bike share stations

https://blog.alexboden.ca/toronto-bike-share-status/

#HackerNews #bikeShare #bikeStations #cycling #Toronto #blogPost #urbanMobility

Status of my favorite bike share stations

https://blog.alexboden.ca/toronto-bike-share-status/

#HackerNews #bikeShare #bikeStations #cycling #Toronto #blogPost #urbanMobility

Sad to see the Rushford Bike Share at the Rushford Public Library is closed for the season.

Finally had a no family obligations and not still coughing from Canada wildfires day. So enjoyed bicycling for 20K on the Root River Trail on a beautiful Autumn day.

#Rushford #BikeShare #Minnesota #RootRiverTrail #BikeTooter #Bicycling #tr_photography_stop_motion #tr_photography_time_lapse #time_lapse #stop_motion #RushfordMN #RushfordPublicLibrary

Sad to see the Rushford Bike Share at the Rushford Public Library is closed for the season.

Finally had a no family obligations and not still coughing from Canada wildfires day. So enjoyed bicycling for 20K on the Root River Trail on a beautiful Autumn day.

#Rushford #BikeShare #Minnesota #RootRiverTrail #BikeTooter #Bicycling #tr_photography_stop_motion #tr_photography_time_lapse #time_lapse #stop_motion #RushfordMN #RushfordPublicLibrary

28% of Londoners say they are now more likely to cycle in future

"Electric hire bike provider Lime said its bikes' usage was up 74 per cent by the Wednesday of strike week, rising steadily through the first few days as more people turned to their e-bikes to get to work. Average trip duration and length were also up by more than a third...booming bike use has also turned the heads of some who did not use bikes that week."

https://road.cc/content/news/28-londoners-more-likely-cycle-after-tube-strike-316105

#cycling #BikeShare #London

28% of Londoners say they are now more likely to cycle in future

"Electric hire bike provider Lime said its bikes' usage was up 74 per cent by the Wednesday of strike week, rising steadily through the first few days as more people turned to their e-bikes to get to work. Average trip duration and length were also up by more than a third...booming bike use has also turned the heads of some who did not use bikes that week."

https://road.cc/content/news/28-londoners-more-likely-cycle-after-tube-strike-316105

#cycling #BikeShare #London

"'We previously had a contract with BCycles when it was owned by Trek, but last year it was actually acquired by Bicycle Transit Systems, and with that we did have amendments to the contract that we had with BCycles,' said Martinez.

"She's hoping that with some of these changes will come upgrades.”
https://kion546.com/news/santa-cruz-county/2025/09/12/santa-cruzs-bcycle-program-not-working-for-all-riders/ #KION #SantaCruz #MontereyBay #BikeShare

"'We previously had a contract with BCycles when it was owned by Trek, but last year it was actually acquired by Bicycle Transit Systems, and with that we did have amendments to the contract that we had with BCycles,' said Martinez.

"She's hoping that with some of these changes will come upgrades.”
https://kion546.com/news/santa-cruz-county/2025/09/12/santa-cruzs-bcycle-program-not-working-for-all-riders/ #KION #SantaCruz #MontereyBay #BikeShare

Meanwhile, the Spectator is all about the Limes.

"I’ve always thought that the Lime bike critics are really saying something else. Like ‘I’m unfit’, or ‘I’m a scaredy-cat’, or ‘I can’t ride a bike’, or ‘I don’t like teenagers’. You must be annoyed to know how easily I glide about the city, envious that I’m writing this just half an hour after leaving the office, the lunatic drivers under the Westway unable to slow my journey."

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/lime-bikes-are-dangerous-thats-why-i-love-them/

#London #cycling #BikeShare

For anyone dealing with the #tubestrike in London this week, here's a guide to the bike share schemes that will help you bypass the melee:

https://www.cyclingelectric.com/buyers-guides/which-is-the-best-bike-share-or-hire-scheme-costs-explained-and-e-bikes-reviewed

#london #tubestrikes #transport #bikeshare #cycling #ebikes

The City of Victoria is seeking input on a new #EBikeShare system that will add to travel options for both residents and visitors.

Members of the public can let the city know where they would like to see #EBikeParking zones situated by adding virtual pins to a digital map by Sept. 24.

When the #BikeShare system launches — the plan is for a 2026 start — e-bikes and helmets will be available in the designated parking zones for rent through a smartphone app.

E-bike trips will start and end only in the zones.

The public can consider placement in locations near existing bike lanes and key destinations, as well as in easy-to-access spots around intersections.

The city has 44 kilometres of bike routes in place and more on the way.

“Bike share aligns with the city’s goals around mobility, sustainability and equity,” the city said in a statement. “It provides more affordable and clean #transportation options for people while also supporting a strong #tourism industry in Victoria.”

As of 2022, about one in three trips in the city has been made by walking, cycling or rolling, the city said, which is one of the highest rates in #Canada.

For more details or to suggest a parking zone, visit http://engage.victoria.ca/bikeshare.

#VictoriaBC #YYJ #Infrastructure #GreenTransportation #EBikes #CommunityEBikes #EBikeRentals #PublicInput #PublicFeedback #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #HaveYourSay

The City of Victoria is seeking input on a new #EBikeShare system that will add to travel options for both residents and visitors.

Members of the public can let the city know where they would like to see #EBikeParking zones situated by adding virtual pins to a digital map by Sept. 24.

When the #BikeShare system launches — the plan is for a 2026 start — e-bikes and helmets will be available in the designated parking zones for rent through a smartphone app.

E-bike trips will start and end only in the zones.

The public can consider placement in locations near existing bike lanes and key destinations, as well as in easy-to-access spots around intersections.

The city has 44 kilometres of bike routes in place and more on the way.

“Bike share aligns with the city’s goals around mobility, sustainability and equity,” the city said in a statement. “It provides more affordable and clean #transportation options for people while also supporting a strong #tourism industry in Victoria.”

As of 2022, about one in three trips in the city has been made by walking, cycling or rolling, the city said, which is one of the highest rates in #Canada.

For more details or to suggest a parking zone, visit http://engage.victoria.ca/bikeshare.

#VictoriaBC #YYJ #Infrastructure #GreenTransportation #EBikes #CommunityEBikes #EBikeRentals #PublicInput #PublicFeedback #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #HaveYourSay

🚲Reminder🚲
New #CapitalBikeshare pricing💰goes into effect this Friday, August 1, 2025! For more details📋about what this means for users🚴‍♀️can be found here ▶️ https://capitalbikeshare.com/blog/2025priceupdate #montgomerycountymd #mocobikes #bikemoco #mdcommuters #bikeshare #DMV #changes #TransitTooter #transportation #transit

🚲Reminder🚲
New #CapitalBikeshare pricing💰goes into effect this Friday, August 1, 2025! For more details📋about what this means for users🚴‍♀️can be found here ▶️ https://capitalbikeshare.com/blog/2025priceupdate #montgomerycountymd #mocobikes #bikemoco #mdcommuters #bikeshare #DMV #changes #TransitTooter #transportation #transit

🚲Reminder🚲
New #CapitalBikeshare pricing💰goes into effect this Friday, August 1, 2025! For more details📋about what this means for users🚴‍♀️can be found here ▶️ https://capitalbikeshare.com/blog/2025priceupdate #montgomerycountymd #mocobikes #bikemoco #mdcommuters #bikeshare #DMV #changes #TransitTooter #transportation #transit

🚲Reminder🚲
New #CapitalBikeshare pricing💰goes into effect this Friday, August 1, 2025! For more details📋about what this means for users🚴‍♀️can be found here ▶️ https://capitalbikeshare.com/blog/2025priceupdate #montgomerycountymd #mocobikes #bikemoco #mdcommuters #bikeshare #DMV #changes #TransitTooter #transportation #transit

Bixi Amis Sucks

https://video.canadiancivil.com/w/kgXiQXPPTQhBdE9Liq94Ga

A Capital Bikeshare Bike Angels strategy guide for beginners

It took me a few years of having a Capital Bikeshare membership to realize that I could zero out the cost of an annual membership by using CaBi to replace enough Metro trips. I needed much longer to realize that I could outright make money off the D.C. area’s growing bikeshare system.

That’s thanks to CaBi’s Bike Angels program, which offers a menu of rewards to riders for picking up bikes from docks with too few open slots and dropping them off at docks with too few bikes. The two kinds of rewards worth pursuing: e-bike credits to offset the 10 cents/min. cost of having an electric motor whir you along, and a choice of e-gift cards that require higher point totals.

In less than a year after I started seriously taking advantage of the program that I had joined in 2018 and then ignored, I’ve now racked up more than $200 in rewards value–far exceeding the $95 annual cost of my membership.

The first flavor of rewards is the easiest to claim: Just 10 points will get you $1 in e-bike credit, but you might as well hold off until you reach 80 and can convert that to $10 in credit that covers more than an hour and a half of free e-bike transportation.

The e-gift card rewards start at 100 points for a $10 e-gift card, but racking up 1,000 earns a $150 card. The redemption options on the one I earned in March, listed in a link in an e-mail sent 17 days after I redeemed those points: Amazon, Airbnb, Disney, DoorDash, REI, or Walmart.

That link also offered a choice of nonprofits to reward instead, some new to me: Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, Everytown for Gun Safety, the First Nations Development Institution, Habitat for Humanity, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or the Trevor Project.

With either rewards option, the maximum value you can get out of a Bike Angel membership is 15 cents per point. The worst you can do is redeem 20 points to extend your membership by a week, under $1.83 in value.

(These redemption ceilings date to sometime early this year, when the program stopped offering a $200 e-gift card for 1,000 points and a $50 card for $300 points–which last year I got paid out to my PayPal account. Like an airline or hotel loyalty program, Bike Angels can inflict devaluations with no notice.)

Now that you know what you can get out of Bike Angels after joining this program in the app, here’s how you can go about putting a little effort into it:

1. Always check the CaBi mobile app not just before going somewhere via bikeshare, but if you were also going to walk. Check again just before you undock a bike, because point values change often.
2. Never take just one points-earning ride in a 24-hour period if you can help it, because that positive ride will double your points for the next 24 hours. After three more positive rides in 24 hours, you unlock triple earning.
3. The most valuable rides start at a station that needs pickups, shown in the app with a black icon for the points value, and end at one that needs dropoffs, shown in white. You’re not crazy to go out of your way to squeeze in a ride for this reason alone, especially if you’ve already activated a points multiplier.
4. Don’t be a jerk: If the closest dock to you only has one or two bikes left and you don’t have a non-points reason to take a ride from there, keep walking.
5. Sometimes it’s not worth trying to game the system. You want to bikeshare into downtown D.C. in the morning like everybody else? Not only may you not get any points out of the ride, you can easily reset your streak by having to return a bike at a dock that needs pick-ups.
6. If you don’t have an annual membership, ignore most of this advice because the $1 fee to start a ride and the subsequent 5 cents/min. charge for a regular bike will wipe out whatever value you could hope to earn in points. If a ride that you were going to take anyway offers points, consider that a tiny bonus.

Bike Angels also offers lifetime-achievement status like what you can achieve in an airline’s frequent-flyer program. Racking up 250 points earns “Joy Rider” status, plus a pin you can stick on your messenger bag and an extension of the 45-minute free-ride period you get with a membership to 60 minutes. The 500-point Casual Cruiser level gets you another pin and a large water bottle with the Bike Angel logo; they sent me two of those bottles by mistake. By reaching 1,500 points, I now have a fancy CaBi key fob and a third pin on the way, and I look forward to getting some CaBi-branded bike gloves and yet another pin at the 2,500-point mark sometime later this year.

At that point, I should probably ease off on this low-paying side hustle. But like Chris Person, the New York video-game journalist whose strategy guide to NYC’s CitiBike inspired this post, I guess I’m a sucker for a well-designed gamification scheme.

#BikeAngels #bikeshare #biking #CaBi #CapitalBikeshare #cycling #frequentTraveler #gamification #rewardsProgram

A Capital Bikeshare Bike Angels strategy guide for beginners

It took me a few years of having a Capital Bikeshare membership to realize that I could zero out the cost of an annual membership by using CaBi to replace enough Metro trips. I needed much longer to realize that I could outright make money off the D.C. area’s growing bikeshare system.

That’s thanks to CaBi’s Bike Angels program, which offers a menu of rewards to riders for picking up bikes from docks with too few open slots and dropping them off at docks with too few bikes. The two kinds of rewards worth pursuing: e-bike credits to offset the 10 cents/min. cost of having an electric motor whir you along, and a choice of e-gift cards that require higher point totals.

In less than a year after I started seriously taking advantage of the program that I had joined in 2018 and then ignored, I’ve now racked up more than $200 in rewards value–far exceeding the $95 annual cost of my membership.

The first flavor of rewards is the easiest to claim: Just 10 points will get you $1 in e-bike credit, but you might as well hold off until you reach 80 and can convert that to $10 in credit that covers more than an hour and a half of free e-bike transportation.

The e-gift card rewards start at 100 points for a $10 e-gift card, but racking up 1,000 earns a $150 card. The redemption options on the one I earned in March, listed in a link in an e-mail sent 17 days after I redeemed those points: Amazon, Airbnb, Disney, DoorDash, REI, or Walmart.

That link also offered a choice of nonprofits to reward instead, some new to me: Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, Everytown for Gun Safety, the First Nations Development Institution, Habitat for Humanity, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or the Trevor Project.

With either rewards option, the maximum value you can get out of a Bike Angel membership is 15 cents per point. The worst you can do is redeem 20 points to extend your membership by a week, under $1.83 in value.

(These redemption ceilings date to sometime early this year, when the program stopped offering a $200 e-gift card for 1,000 points and a $50 card for $300 points–which last year I got paid out to my PayPal account. Like an airline or hotel loyalty program, Bike Angels can inflict devaluations with no notice.)

Now that you know what you can get out of Bike Angels after joining this program in the app, here’s how you can go about putting a little effort into it:

1. Always check the CaBi mobile app not just before going somewhere via bikeshare, but if you were also going to walk. Check again just before you undock a bike, because point values change often.
2. Never take just one points-earning ride in a 24-hour period if you can help it, because that positive ride will double your points for the next 24 hours. After three more positive rides in 24 hours, you unlock triple earning.
3. The most valuable rides start at a station that needs pickups, shown in the app with a black icon for the points value, and end at one that needs dropoffs, shown in white. You’re not crazy to go out of your way to squeeze in a ride for this reason alone, especially if you’ve already activated a points multiplier.
4. Don’t be a jerk: If the closest dock to you only has one or two bikes left and you don’t have a non-points reason to take a ride from there, keep walking.
5. Sometimes it’s not worth trying to game the system. You want to bikeshare into downtown D.C. in the morning like everybody else? Not only may you not get any points out of the ride, you can easily reset your streak by having to return a bike at a dock that needs pick-ups.
6. If you don’t have an annual membership, ignore most of this advice because the $1 fee to start a ride and the subsequent 5 cents/min. charge for a regular bike will wipe out whatever value you could hope to earn in points. If a ride that you were going to take anyway offers points, consider that a tiny bonus.

Bike Angels also offers lifetime-achievement status like what you can achieve in an airline’s frequent-flyer program. Racking up 250 points earns “Joy Rider” status, plus a pin you can stick on your messenger bag and an extension of the 45-minute free-ride period you get with a membership to 60 minutes. The 500-point Casual Cruiser level gets you another pin and a large water bottle with the Bike Angel logo; they sent me two of those bottles by mistake. By reaching 1,500 points, I now have a fancy CaBi key fob and a third pin on the way, and I look forward to getting some CaBi-branded bike gloves and yet another pin at the 2,500-point mark sometime later this year.

At that point, I should probably ease off on this low-paying side hustle. But like Chris Person, the New York video-game journalist whose strategy guide to NYC’s CitiBike inspired this post, I guess I’m a sucker for a well-designed gamification scheme.

#BikeAngels #bikeshare #biking #CaBi #CapitalBikeshare #cycling #frequentTraveler #gamification #rewardsProgram

A Capital Bikeshare Bike Angels strategy guide for beginners

It took me a few years of having a Capital Bikeshare membership to realize that I could zero out the cost of an annual membership by using CaBi to replace enough Metro trips. I needed much longer to realize that I could outright make money off the D.C. area’s growing bikeshare system.

That’s thanks to CaBi’s Bike Angels program, which offers a menu of rewards to riders for picking up bikes from docks with too few open slots and dropping them off at docks with too few bikes. The two kinds of rewards worth pursuing: e-bike credits to offset the 10 cents/min. cost of having an electric motor whir you along, and a choice of e-gift cards that require higher point totals.

In less than a year after I started seriously taking advantage of the program that I had joined in 2018 and then ignored, I’ve now racked up more than $200 in rewards value–far exceeding the $95 annual cost of my membership.

The first flavor of rewards is the easiest to claim: Just 10 points will get you $1 in e-bike credit, but you might as well hold off until you reach 80 and can convert that to $10 in credit that covers more than an hour and a half of free e-bike transportation.

The e-gift card rewards start at 100 points for a $10 e-gift card, but racking up 1,000 earns a $150 card. The redemption options on the one I earned in March, listed in a link in an e-mail sent 17 days after I redeemed those points: Amazon, Airbnb, Disney, DoorDash, REI, or Walmart.

That link also offered a choice of nonprofits to reward instead, some new to me: Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, Everytown for Gun Safety, the First Nations Development Institution, Habitat for Humanity, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or the Trevor Project.

With either rewards option, the maximum value you can get out of a Bike Angel membership is 15 cents per point. The worst you can do is redeem 20 points to extend your membership by a week, under $1.83 in value.

(These redemption ceilings date to sometime early this year, when the program stopped offering a $200 e-gift card for 1,000 points and a $50 card for $300 points–which last year I got paid out to my PayPal account. Like an airline or hotel loyalty program, Bike Angels can inflict devaluations with no notice.)

Now that you know what you can get out of Bike Angels after joining this program in the app, here’s how you can go about putting a little effort into it:

1. Always check the CaBi mobile app not just before going somewhere via bikeshare, but if you were also going to walk. Check again just before you undock a bike, because point values change often.
2. Never take just one points-earning ride in a 24-hour period if you can help it, because that positive ride will double your points for the next 24 hours. After three more positive rides in 24 hours, you unlock triple earning.
3. The most valuable rides start at a station that needs pickups, shown in the app with a black icon for the points value, and end at one that needs dropoffs, shown in white. You’re not crazy to go out of your way to squeeze in a ride for this reason alone, especially if you’ve already activated a points multiplier.
4. Don’t be a jerk: If the closest dock to you only has one or two bikes left and you don’t have a non-points reason to take a ride from there, keep walking.
5. Sometimes it’s not worth trying to game the system. You want to bikeshare into downtown D.C. in the morning like everybody else? Not only may you not get any points out of the ride, you can easily reset your streak by having to return a bike at a dock that needs pick-ups.
6. If you don’t have an annual membership, ignore most of this advice because the $1 fee to start a ride and the subsequent 5 cents/min. charge for a regular bike will wipe out whatever value you could hope to earn in points. If a ride that you were going to take anyway offers points, consider that a tiny bonus.

Bike Angels also offers lifetime-achievement status like what you can achieve in an airline’s frequent-flyer program. Racking up 250 points earns “Joy Rider” status, plus a pin you can stick on your messenger bag and an extension of the 45-minute free-ride period you get with a membership to 60 minutes. The 500-point Casual Cruiser level gets you another pin and a large water bottle with the Bike Angel logo; they sent me two of those bottles by mistake. By reaching 1,500 points, I now have a fancy CaBi key fob and a third pin on the way, and I look forward to getting some CaBi-branded bike gloves and yet another pin at the 2,500-point mark sometime later this year.

At that point, I should probably ease off on this low-paying side hustle. But like Chris Person, the New York video-game journalist whose strategy guide to NYC’s CitiBike inspired this post, I guess I’m a sucker for a well-designed gamification scheme.

#BikeAngels #bikeshare #biking #CaBi #CapitalBikeshare #cycling #frequentTraveler #gamification #rewardsProgram

A Capital Bikeshare Bike Angels strategy guide for beginners

It took me a few years of having a Capital Bikeshare membership to realize that I could zero out the cost of an annual membership by using CaBi to replace enough Metro trips. I needed much longer to realize that I could outright make money off the D.C. area’s growing bikeshare system.

That’s thanks to CaBi’s Bike Angels program, which offers a menu of rewards to riders for picking up bikes from docks with too few open slots and dropping them off at docks with too few bikes. The two kinds of rewards worth pursuing: e-bike credits to offset the 10 cents/min. cost of having an electric motor whir you along, and a choice of e-gift cards that require higher point totals.

In less than a year after I started seriously taking advantage of the program that I had joined in 2018 and then ignored, I’ve now racked up more than $200 in rewards value–far exceeding the $95 annual cost of my membership.

The first flavor of rewards is the easiest to claim: Just 10 points will get you $1 in e-bike credit, but you might as well hold off until you reach 80 and can convert that to $10 in credit that covers more than an hour and a half of free e-bike transportation.

The e-gift card rewards start at 100 points for a $10 e-gift card, but racking up 1,000 earns a $150 card. The redemption options on the one I earned in March, listed in a link in an e-mail sent 17 days after I redeemed those points: Amazon, Airbnb, Disney, DoorDash, REI, or Walmart.

That link also offered a choice of nonprofits to reward instead, some new to me: Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, Everytown for Gun Safety, the First Nations Development Institution, Habitat for Humanity, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or the Trevor Project.

With either rewards option, the maximum value you can get out of a Bike Angel membership is 15 cents per point. The worst you can do is redeem 20 points to extend your membership by a week, under $1.83 in value.

(These redemption ceilings date to sometime early this year, when the program stopped offering a $200 e-gift card for 1,000 points and a $50 card for $300 points–which last year I got paid out to my PayPal account. Like an airline or hotel loyalty program, Bike Angels can inflict devaluations with no notice.)

Now that you know what you can get out of Bike Angels after joining this program in the app, here’s how you can go about putting a little effort into it:

1. Always check the CaBi mobile app not just before going somewhere via bikeshare, but if you were also going to walk. Check again just before you undock a bike, because point values change often.
2. Never take just one points-earning ride in a 24-hour period if you can help it, because that positive ride will double your points for the next 24 hours. After three more positive rides in 24 hours, you unlock triple earning.
3. The most valuable rides start at a station that needs pickups, shown in the app with a black icon for the points value, and end at one that needs dropoffs, shown in white. You’re not crazy to go out of your way to squeeze in a ride for this reason alone, especially if you’ve already activated a points multiplier.
4. Don’t be a jerk: If the closest dock to you only has one or two bikes left and you don’t have a non-points reason to take a ride from there, keep walking.
5. Sometimes it’s not worth trying to game the system. You want to bikeshare into downtown D.C. in the morning like everybody else? Not only may you not get any points out of the ride, you can easily reset your streak by having to return a bike at a dock that needs pick-ups.
6. If you don’t have an annual membership, ignore most of this advice because the $1 fee to start a ride and the subsequent 5 cents/min. charge for a regular bike will wipe out whatever value you could hope to earn in points. If a ride that you were going to take anyway offers points, consider that a tiny bonus.

Bike Angels also offers lifetime-achievement status like what you can achieve in an airline’s frequent-flyer program. Racking up 250 points earns “Joy Rider” status, plus a pin you can stick on your messenger bag and an extension of the 45-minute free-ride period you get with a membership to 60 minutes. The 500-point Casual Cruiser level gets you another pin and a large water bottle with the Bike Angel logo; they sent me two of those bottles by mistake. By reaching 1,500 points, I now have a fancy CaBi key fob and a third pin on the way, and I look forward to getting some CaBi-branded bike gloves and yet another pin at the 2,500-point mark sometime later this year.

At that point, I should probably ease off on this low-paying side hustle. But like Chris Person, the New York video-game journalist whose strategy guide to NYC’s CitiBike inspired this post, I guess I’m a sucker for a well-designed gamification scheme.

#BikeAngels #bikeshare #biking #CaBi #CapitalBikeshare #cycling #frequentTraveler #gamification #rewardsProgram

🚴‍♂️ From the Greater Greater Washington Bikeshare Beat🚴‍♂️ : November CaBi ridership surge continues, annual rides up 36% in 2024 via #ggwash https://ggwash.org/view/97851/bikeshare-beat-november-cabi-ridership-surge-continues-annual-rides-up-36-in-2024 #capitalbikeshare #DMV #washingtondc #maryland #virginia #bikeshare #BikeTooter