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Ithaca Bikeshare Sees 15% Increase in Ridership
309 North Aurora Street | Ithaca, NY 14850 | info@tccpi.org
Reaches 100,000th Ride after 18 Months in Operation
Local non-profit electric bicycle rental service Ithaca Bikeshare reached its 100,000th ride last month after 18 months in operation. A spokesperson from the non-profit that operates the service said there has been a 15% increase in ridership between 2023 and 2024 so far.
Ithaca Bikeshare is operated by the Ithaca-based non-profit Center for Community Transportation.
While users pay to use the service—$1.50 to unlock a bike and $0.25 for each minute thereafter—sponsorships and grants are vital to sustain the program’s operating costs, according to Ithaca Bikeshare director of micromobility Jeff Goodmark.
In the short term, Goodmark said the bikeshare will be able to operate with support from other sources, like the City of Ithaca and local non-profits like Ithaca Carshare, Bike Walk Tompkins, GO Ithaca, and the Park Foundation.
The Ithaca Common Council voted April 17 to give the non-profit $75,000 in federally-funded, one-time “community engagement grants” as part of the city’s Green New Deal initiatives.
Rebecca Evans, director of sustainability for the City of Ithaca, said the funds will be used to encourage people to use the service in lieu of cars or other forms of transportation.
The city previously gave Ithaca Bikeshare $50,000 from its 2022 American Recovery Plan Act funding towards an initial purchase of electric bikes.
Goodmark said some of Ithaca Bikeshare’s success can be connected to an initial short-lived bike share service through San Francisco-based transportation company Lime in 2018. Lime pulled its bikes and scooters out of the city during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving unmet demand for a bike provider.
“[Lime] left a lot of people who are relying on that service with no other options, so the need for it became more apparent,” Goodmark said. “Some people locally didn’t like a fancy startup company, coming in and doing something like that, [and] Ithaca Bikeshare being local and not-for-profit is a better match for our community.”
- Lorien Tyne, Ithaca Voice, 6/7/24
Local non-profit electric bicycle rental service Ithaca Bikeshare reached its 100,000th ride last month after 18 months in operation. A spokesperson from the non-profit that operates the service said there has been a 15% increase in ridership between 2023 and 2024 so far.
Ithaca Bikeshare is operated by the Ithaca-based non-profit Center for Community Transportation.
While users pay to use the service—$1.50 to unlock a bike and $0.25 for each minute thereafter—sponsorships and grants are vital to sustain the program’s operating costs, according to Ithaca Bikeshare director of micromobility Jeff Goodmark.
In the short term, Goodmark said the bikeshare will be able to operate with support from other sources, like the City of Ithaca and local non-profits like Ithaca Carshare, Bike Walk Tompkins, GO Ithaca, and the Park Foundation.The Ithaca Common Council voted April 17 to give the non-profit $75,000 in federally-funded, one-time “community engagement grants” as part of the city’s Green New Deal initiatives.
Rebecca Evans, director of sustainability for the City of Ithaca, said the funds will be used to encourage people to use the service in lieu of cars or other forms of transportation.
The city previously gave Ithaca Bikeshare $50,000 from its 2022 American Recovery Plan Act funding towards an initial purchase of electric bikes.
Goodmark said some of Ithaca Bikeshare’s success can be connected to an initial short-lived bike share service through San Francisco-based transportation company Lime in 2018. Lime pulled its bikes and scooters out of the city during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving unmet demand for a bike provider.
“[Lime] left a lot of people who are relying on that service with no other options, so the need for it became more apparent,” Goodmark said. “Some people locally didn’t like a fancy startup company, coming in and doing something like that, [and] Ithaca Bikeshare being local and not-for-profit is a better match for our community.”
- Lorien Tyne, Ithaca Voice, 6/7/24
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