As we close out 2024, we at Shared Mobility Inc. (SMI) are proud to celebrate a year filled with meaningful progress toward our mission of providing equitable and sustainable transportation solutions. Here’s a look back at some of our key achievements:
1. Reddy Bikeshare: Breaking Records in Buffalo and Niagara Falls
This year, Reddy Bikeshare soared to new heights, achieving an all-time record with 73,435 trips and a staggering 121,879 miles logged across Buffalo and Niagara Falls. These numbers reflect not only the growing demand for bikeshare in our communities but also the power of shared micro-mobility to connect people with places they love. Reddy was launched in 2016, in partnership with Independent Health, and has expanded steadily every year with a fleet to a current fleet of 485 bikes, including an emerging e-bike fleet called Reddy+.
Most recently, the program is doubling its footprint on Buffalo’s East Side under a grant-funded project called Clean Mobility Buffalo. A lot of planning work happened in 2024 to set the stage for 2025 of bringing more low-cost Reddy+ Bikes to neighborhoods in need of more transportation options.
Together with the Niagara River Greenway Commission, we also expanded Reddy’s reach into the City of Tonawanda, home to a very popular node of biking activity where the popular Empire State Trail meets the Tonawanda Rail-Trail and the Shoreline Trail that links Downtown Buffalo & Downtown Niagara Falls.
The growth of bikeshare in Western New York does not just benefit the nearly 14,000 users in 2024, but also the small businesses and local communities that benefit when people share urban space more often.
2. CDPHP CYCLE!: A Record Year in Albany and the Capital Region
The bikeshare system in New York’s Capital District also had a golden moment in 2024. Our partnership with Capital District Transit Authority, which owns CDPHP Cycle!, continues hitting new milestones: 82,898 trips and 172,643 miles logged across Albany and New York’s Capital Region! This achievement highlights the success of our efforts to provide reliable and accessible bikeshare options, empowering residents and visitors alike to embrace biking as a preferred mode of transportation.
It’s not just demand for bikeshare that has sprung, so too has supply. This past year, our staff, together with CDTA, doubled the size of the CDPHP Cycle! fleet to 600 vehicles. 200 of them are standard pedal bikes and 400 are e-bikes, using Drop Mobility technology to lock and unlock them. The growth in the service has benefitted more almost 20,000 users wanting to get exercise, or commute to work or school.
3. Launching Bikeshare in the Hudson Valley: PROJECT MOVER
Project MOVER E-Bikeshare launched in the Village of Ossining, New York this past August, bringing 50 e-bikes across 11 hubs in the bustling Westchester County village. The bikeshare saw 1,459 total trips in its 3 month pilot. Riders used the bikes to access groceries, recreation, local services, and to commute from across the region thanks to a hub located at the Metro North train station. The e-bikes assisted riders in conquering the steep hills of Ossining, providing a powerful boost to get people to their end destination efficiently. Users also thoroughly enjoyed the system, with a total satisfaction rate of 94%. The bikeshare celebrated its ribbon cutting ceremony in early October, which brought together all of Project MOVER’s partners in the heart of Ossining’s downtown.
Thanks to our partnership with Drop Mobility, the bikeshare hired two Ossining residents to help maintain the system. The operations team also partnered with the Village Police Department to create a tutorial video in English and Spanish language, which is particularly beneficial in Ossining, where 33% of the population was born outside the US, 70% of whom are from Latin America.
The bikeshare is currently in hibernation for the winter, and will be back in a big way in 2025. The system is currently planning to launch in an additional 5 communities, including the Town of Ossining and the villages of Croton-on-Hudson, Sleepy Hollow, Tarrytown, and Dobbs Ferry. The SMI team is currently working with each of these communities’ administrators, elected officials and local committees to identify sites for future bikeshare hubs. These conversations will ensure that the 2025 riding season is designed to meet the unique needs of each of the partnered communities. Follow the Project MOVER Bikeshare Facebook page to stay up to date on our progress and read our blog to learn more about the bikeshare launch.
4. WNY E-Bike Library: Empowering Communities Through E-Bike Access
For the last couple of years, our WNY E-Bike Library initiative has been repairing and refurbishing donated e-bikes, giving them a second life as tools for community empowerment. Much like a public library where people can borrow books, E-Bike Libraries allow folks to borrow electric-assist bikes for short to long term rental periods. We partner with community groups to lead and administer the programs adjusted to their specific community needs. With support from Independent Health, our team has been able to scale up the refurbishment and cross-training on how to use and loan the e-bikes.
In 2024 alone, this initiative helped provide wheels to over 100 people in Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Through partnerships with organizations like the Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative and The Tool Library, these e-bikes were made available for low-cost lending programs, providing affordable and sustainable transportation options to those who need them most.
We have an exciting new updates tied into the WNY E-Bike Library Network for 2025, keep your eyes peeled for the announcement this coming spring..
5. Expanding Knowledge at Professional Conferences
Our team at SMI was thrilled to participate in several key conferences this year, furthering our understanding of the shared mobility landscape. Highlights included the North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association Conference in Philadelphia, the Transportation Research Board Conference on Advancing Transportation Equity in Baltimore, the New York Bike Summit 2024, and the Institute for Transportation Engineers Upstate NY Conference. These events allowed us to exchange ideas, share best practices, and strengthen our commitment to equity and innovation in transportation.
We participated at these conferences to learn more on micro-mobility, but to also share what we’ve observed in our projects. Those included best practices of balancing, fixing and battery swapping bikes in a bikeshare network, rules around starting and maintaining a free- or low-cost e-bike library, and researching on the benefits and effects of providing e-bike rebates to households in need.
6. Piloting Cutting-Edge Technology with re:CHARGE
Innovation took center stage in 2024 with the launch of a groundbreaking pilot program in Amsterdam, NY. In collaboration with Albany-based tech company re:CHARGE, CDTA, and Drop Mobility, we introduced the first U.S. bikeshare charging station powered by wireless power transfer. This technology enables multiple CDPHP Cycle! bikes to charge wirelessly, offering a cost-effective and efficient solution for e-bikeshare operations. Users of CDPHP Cycle! in Amsterdam can simply return one of the five charger-equipped bikes to the charging stations, and battery charging will begin automatically–saving hours of labor in manual battery-swapping.
This pilot represents a significant leap forward in sustainable micromobility and underscores our role as a leader in advancing transportation technology.
Looking Ahead
As we reflect on these achievements, we remain deeply grateful to our partners, funders, and community members who make our work possible. These milestones are a testament to the collective effort to create a future where shared mobility is accessible, sustainable, and equitable for all.
Here’s to an even more impactful 2025!
Comments