May 15, 2023
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Indego is adding 600 electric bicycles and installing new docking stations in North Philly, West Philly and Manayunk as part of an effort to improve access to the bike share program.
Indego is expanding to Philadelphia neighborhoods that have been underserved by the eight-year-old bike share program.
Indego is adding 600 new electric bikes and more stations this year throughout the city, including North Broad Street, Manayunk and as far as 58th Street in West Philly.
Indego also is adding stations throughout much of Center City, South Philly, Old City and Fishtown as part of an effort to increase ridership and ensure the program is reliable for commuters. The program is emphasizing electric bikes in response to an analysis that found more than 50% of all trips this year have involved electric bikes.
Earlier this year, Indego grew its service area into Allegheny West, Kingsessing and Whitman. It also installed bike stations at the Columbia YMCA – just south of Temple University – as part of its expansion into North Philly.
"As we celebrate Indego's eighth anniversary, I'm extremely proud of our continued commitment to providing a healthy, affordable and fun mode of transportation for all Philadelphians," said Nate Bowman-Johnston, Indego's general manager. "With this, we're excited to bring dozens of new stations and hundreds of new bikes this year into communities that we haven't previously served. As we expand, our vision for Indego is to be an integral part of how people get around Philadelphia."
Indego is managed by the city's Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems, and is operated by Bicycle Transit Systems. The bike share program began in April 2015 with 60 docking stations and 600 bikes, and has since expanded to include 200 docking and 2,000 classic and electric bikes.
At the time of its launch, Indego just one-third of its docking stations were in low-income communities, with the bulk of use focused on Center City.
Over the next five years, the bike share program plans to continue its expansion with a focus on improving access among underserved communities, low-income residents, teenagers and people of color. Indego also plans to reduce the cost of the program for most riders.
Indego aims to eliminate financial barriers that dissuade commuters from choosing bikes over rideshares and other forms of transportation, including among teenagers and older residents. Those hurdles include the ability to ride a bike, communication barriers, technology access, digital literacy and payment methods.
"Equity shows up in every aspect of our work from how we hire and promote employees to where we install new bike share stations to how we engage staff around social justice issues to our free bike pass and fee structure," Bowman-Johnston said earlier this year. "The Indego equity plan is an exciting demonstration of our commitment to equity and sets key goals to make Indego even more equitable for the citizens of Philadelphia and beyond."
Indego has started offering stipends to community leaders who help educate residents about the benefits of bike share and host group rides in their neighborhoods.
Through an existing partnership with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Indego offers free riding classes, group rides and its Wheels to Work program, a five-week training course for adult job-seekers that combines workforce development and cycling lessons. All participants are given free Indego bike passes.
To celebrate its eighth anniversary, Indego is offering discounts on passes throughout May. Riders can save up to 75% on 30-day passes or 20% on an annual passes by using the promotional code "INDEPRO23." Passes are sold online. ACCESS cardholders are eligible for additional savings.
