The $5000-a-bike City Bikeshare That’s Hardly Used
In late 2013, a wave of baby blue bikes hit San Francisco. The city had its first ever station-based bikeshare program — Bay Area Bike Share .
The team at Spin — a San Francisco headquartered station-less bikeshare startup — was curious about Bay Area Bike Share’s growth since then. How well used is the system? How does it stack up to station-based systems in other US cities? And are taxpayers really paying a reported $5,000 a bike?
We had researchers dig into the history of Bay Area Bike Share. We had analysts sift through millions of rows — 20 gigabytes worth — of individual ride data (10/01/2015 to 09/30/2016) from six major cities: New York City; Washington, DC; Boston; Seattle; Chicago; and San Francisco.
And the results were surprising.
How Good A Biking City Is San Francisco?
We combed through the San Francisco Municipal Transport Agency (SFMTA) 2015 report about biking in the city, and three numbers stood out:
- 82,000: Number of bike trips in the city per day
- 184%: Increase in bicycling from 2006 to 2015 — the city’s fastest growing mode of transport
- 434: Miles of bike lanes throughout the city
In the past decade, more than 600 cities around the world have implemented similar plans, collectively deploying more than 700,000 bicycles. It made sense for San Francisco to finally get a system of its own.
How Does Bay Area Bike Share Stack Up?
We looked at the number of bicycles and stations per city, in relation to each city’s population.
New York City’s Citi Bike system has the largest number of bikes in operation (a whopping 10,000). Seattle’s Pronto network — soon to be shuttered — has the least bikes of the cities at just 500. Calculating per 1,000 capita, Bay Area Bike Share (1,030 bikes), falls far behind comparable cities.
Washington, DC’s Capital Bikeshare — with an impressive 5.6 bicycles per 1,000 capita — far surpasses systems in the other US cities we analyzed. Launched in 2008 with 10 stations and 120 bicycles, Capital Bikeshare has since expanded 40 times in size. It was the first large-scale bikesharing operation in the US — and today, is considered the country’s most successful.
When it comes to stations per square mile, DC takes the cake again, handily beating out Chicago, Boston, and New York City.
While DC boasts 6.4 stations per square mile, Bay Area Bike Share clocks in at just 1.5. Save for Pronto in Seattle, Bay Area Bike Share has the least amount of stations among the cities we looked at, with 70 spread across its 46.87 square miles.
Bay Area Bike Share’s Low Usage
Far and away, New York City’s system saw the most daily usage, with 3.6 daily rides per bicycle. Bay Area Bike Share sits at almost half of that for bicycles in San Francisco.
Lastly, an analysis of Bay Area Bike Share’s most popular station by the hour of the day reveals very few overall rides — even at peak hours.
During morning rush hour (9am), the most popular Bay Area Bike Share station (San Francisco Caltrain, at 4th and King) only sees a peak of 25 pick-ups. At peak afternoon commute time (6pm), the same station sees even less drop-offs — about 22, on average.
How Much Does Bay Area Bike Share Cost?
We uncovered a publicly available contract signed by a handful of Bay Area cities involved in the program— San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, and San Jose.
On average, the cities pay an incredible $5,249 per bike, excluding sales tax, station costs, and maintenance. The cost is then passed down to riders with these pricing plans:
Digging further, we discovered that the contract grants Bay Area Bike Share exclusive rights to operate a bikeshare in those cities, including San Francisco.
Let’s Recap
- San Francisco is a great biking city
- Bay Area Bike Share is one of the least used systems in a major US city
- Taxpayers are paying $5,249 per bike
- Taxpayers have no freedom — thus far — to choose from competing bikeshare options due to an exclusivity agreement
Cities Need A Great Bikeshare System
There is a strong case to be made for an effective bikesharing system not just in San Francisco, but in every major US city. An increase in biking boosts the local economy, reduces congestion, improves air quality and public health, and complements existing forms of transportation.
Station-based bikeshare systems are limited by the strength of their station network. In our hometown, Bay Area Bike Share lacks both stations and usage, despite its presence in a great biking city. And this why San Francisco is a personally important launch city for us.
Spin’s station-less system lets people pick up and drop off bikes anywhere that’s legal, at $1 per trip. City residents will have an alternative to the inconvenience of an expensive, station-based bikeshare. We are determined to provide accessible and affordable last mile transportation to everyone, right here in San Francisco — and cities around the country.
