Philadelphia, get ready to roll.
Indego bike share officially launches today, April 23!
The City of Brotherly Love can now claim status as one of the most bike-friendly big cities in the country with its dedicated bike lanes on city streets, hundreds of miles of trails and a growing number of bicycle commuters. The city’s easy-to-navigate grid layout, mostly flat terrain and 435 miles of bike lanes make it easy to opt for pedal power.
Now, with the launch of Indego, the city’s first bike-sharing program, Philadelphia’s biking scene reaches a new level of greatness.
Not only is bike sharing a healthy and affordable public transportation alternative, the Indego program will also continue to amp up the city’s reputation as a cosmopolitain destination and connect Philadelphia’s residents and visitors to the city’s streets in a new, accessible way.
We know Indego will prove to be one of the best ways to get around town. Read on for details on the bikes, locations and payment options.
The Bikes
The Indego bikes will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will serve a geographic area from the Delaware River, across the Schuylkill River, into West Philadelphia and from South Philly to North Philadelphia, including Temple University’s main campus.
The sturdy bikes, built by Trek, include a basket, three gears, lights and reflectors, an adjustable seat and a splash guard.
Like other bike share systems, the bikes can be picked up at any Indego station and returned to any other station after you’ve reached your destination.
The Stations
As of today, nearly all 70 station locations coming in this first opening phase have now been installed, and the system map is live and available online.
The wide station network — which will see even more stations added in the next phase of development — offers about twice as many bike parking spaces (what Indego calls “dock points”) as there are bikes on the streets.
Why? The goal is for bike share dock points to always be available at any destination. The number of dock points do vary by station location, so check out the real-time station map or download the B-Cycle app to assure parking availability.
To find the station nearest any departure or arrival point, check out the online map right here.
More on Indego, below.
Walk-Up and Pay-As-You-Go
With an eye towards bringing the most accessible bike-share program in the entire country to Philadelphia, there are multiple pricing options so riders from all walks of life can jump on a bike and take advantage of Indego.
Indego memberships are available right here, and the pricing structure comes in as low cost and efficient for both residents and visitors. Riders can pay for Indego bike passes by the month or by the trip, similar to other means of public transportation.
There’s no membership requirement, so anyone with cash or a credit card can walk up and take out a bike from one of the 70 stations at a flat pay-as-you-go rate of $4 per half hour. Better still, Philadelphia will have the only bike sharing program in the country where you can pay for your rental in cash.
Registration and Membership Options
For those who want to become a member and join Indego, two options are available for memberships: Indego30, or its cash payment option Indego30 Cash, runs $15 per month with the first hour of each trip free ($4 an hour for each trip lasting longer than an hour); IndegoFlex costs $10 per year and each ride is $4 per hour.
The Indego system will launch in a few phases, initially with the first 70 stations in Center City and parts of north, south and west Philadelphia. An expansion of the system is already in the works, too, for spring 2016 with an additional 60 stations.
Check right here for much more information on Indego, its pricing and memberships.
Indego Bike Share Launch
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