Electric Bikes Coming To Philly's Indego Bikeshare Program

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia's bikeshare program, Indego, will roll out new electronic bikes in late May, expanding on its existing structure.

In late May, Indego will begin to roll out 400 more pedal-assist electric bikes, along with other program improvements, including new stations.

"Adding more electric bikes to the fleet will help address several barriers and open the door for new cyclists who may not have considered using Indego before,” said Waffiyyah Murray, Better Bike Share Partnership Program Manager.

Last November, Indego tested 10 electric pedal-assist bicycles, called Indego Electric, over a four-month pilot to understand how they would be used, and how they would stand up to the rigors of daily use.

Indego Electric features a pedal-assist motor that allows you to ride up to 17 miles per hour with an electric boost.

"By any measure, the initial pilot was a success," said Deputy Managing Director for Transportation, Michael Carroll. "We saw that the Indego electric bikes were ridden up to 10 times as often as the standard bikes, and they traveled to every station across the city."

Starting in May, riders will be able to check out one of the 400 new Indego electric bicycles at stations throughout the system for an additional $0.15 per minute.

Indego ACCESS pass holders can ride the pedal-assist bikes for just $0.05 per minute, continuing the City’s commitment to affordability and equity.

Indego electric bikes will be available at stations throughout the system, and riders can find them easily with the Indego App or on the Indego website.

Additionally, Indego is adding 12 new stations this year to the busiest parts of the Indego system. These stations will make Indego more reliable for people who count on the program for their daily transportation, as well as new users and recreational riders. Riders can be notified when these stations arrive by enabling push notifications on the Indego mobile app.

To fund the new endeavor, Indego is making updates to its current pricing structure with an increase to the Day Pass while adopting per minute pricing to all Indego usage fees.

Indego celebrated its fourth year in operation on April 23. Since its launch, riders have taken 2.6 million trips, ridden the distance equivalent of 28 round trips to the moon, and burned 1.4 million soft pretzels worth of calories.

These updates will support the continued growth of Philly’s bike share program.