Thomas Breen file photo
The old Bike New Haven bikes, some of which will be re-used for Ride New Haven.
New Haven’s soon-to-return bike share program has a new name, new prices, and a new website — along with 100 e‑bikes that should be available to rent by the end of the month for $0.25 cents a minute.
The city’s latest take on short-term bike rentals is called Ride New Haven.
It comes more than four years after a previous local bike share effort, dubbed Bike New Haven, went kaput after two years of operation.
This version will be overseen by the city’s parking authority, a San Francisco-based bike share provider called Drop Mobility, and a local company co-run by the owners of Devil’s Gear bike shop.
City parking authority chief Doug Hausladen told the Independent that the new launch date for Ride New Haven should be some time towards the end of August. It had originally planned to start at the end of July, but contractor-related delays pushed back the start.
Hausladen said the program will start with 100 electric bikes. Another 100 of the “older pedal cycle bikes” from the previous bike share program should be launched within two months of the program’s start. The new bike share program will be using the existing existing stations still out on city sidewalks from the old, now-defunct effort.
Ride New Haven has also published a wealth of information about how the program will work — and how much it will cost to use — in the month since the Independent last wrote about this revived initiative.
The payment options include:
• Pay as you go, at $0.25 per minute, with a $1 unlock fee;
• $20 monthly payments, with no unlock fee and 60 minutes of free ride time per day (which can be across multiple trips), and $0.15 per minute after that;
• $99 annual payments, with no unlock fee, 60 minutes of free ride time per day, and $0.15 per minute after that;
• An “equity membership” model that costs $4 per month with 60 minutes of free ride time per day, and $0.10 per minute after that, for riders who receive SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) or who are residents or housing voucher recipients of the city’s housing authority.
The Ride New Haven website states that the maximum speed of the program’s e‑bikes is around 16 miles per hour; an e‑bike’s “boost,” or charge, lasts for around 30 to 40 miles; all riders must be at least 18 years old to participate; and riders have to download and use the Ride New Haven smart phone app in order to rent these bikes.
Hausladen told the Independent that the bike share program is included in the city’s EPA Community Change grant application. That grant, if awarded, would see the program double in size.
Ride New Haven is also partnering with the New Haven REACH grant “to support outreach, engagement, training, and memberships for the bike share system in 6 key neighborhoods of New Haven (Fair Haven, West Rock, Dixwell, Dwight, Newhallville, and the Hill),” he said.
Signs ups have already begun. Stay tuned for more announcements to come.
Ride New Haven website