2024: RECORD YEAR FOR REDDY BIKESHARE
2024 has been a huge year for bikeshare in Western New York with more than 73,000 trips logged and nearly 122,000 miles pedaled. Those are two records shattered—topping 2023’s tally of 51,872 trips and 2020’s mile tally of 107,890.
The Reddy Team often calls 2020 our “Bike Boom,” where we recorded the largest number of sign-ups as WNYers and visitors explored bikeshare as a safe & socially distant activity during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Although sign-ups have normalized in the years following, usage across the network has continued booming. On an average day during our 233-day-long 2024 season, folks pedaled a Reddy Bike approximately 315 times, an increase of 73% from the prior year.
Why is usage booming in Buffalo & Niagara Falls? A few reasons:
Bikeshare is booming all across North America!
Bikeshare is having a big blow-out moment. It’s the life hack visitors and residents lean on to get around vibrant communities where space is often shared, and bike infrastructure is abundant. Despite e-scooter trips being down 20% from its pre-pandemic high, 2023 saw more trips on bikeshare than ever before—102.4 million trips logged across bikeshare systems in Canada, US and Mexico, according to NABSA’s latest annual report. We’ll have to wait until August for 2024 data, but last year is on track for more shattered records as individual bikeshare systems are reporting records stats—including the sister bikeshare system we operate in NY’s Capital Region CDPHP Cycle! (They recorded 82,898 trips!)
REDDY has More Stations, More Bikes & Better Tech
In partnership with Independent Health, we have been steadily advancing the reach and quality of bikeshare in WNY. We have more bikes deployed in the field than ever before—nearing 500. Every year, we’re adding new bikeshare stations for folks to unlock a bike—most recently, we added two stations in the City of Tonawanda! The technology has also gotten a lot better! In 2022, we replaced the computers on every bike in our system so unlocking a bike can happen as quick & easy as scanning a QR code on the back or tapping a membership card. In Fall 2023, we officially introduced Reddy+, our emerging fleet of e-bikes to the system. Our goal in the next couple years is to have Reddy+ make up 1/3rd of our bikeshare fleet. They’ve already been very popular among folks who need an extra boost to comfortably keep up with their friends.
Reddy has Kept Prices Affordable
Implementing bikeshare in cities the size of Buffalo and Niagara Falls is challenging, and requires underwriting support from private and public partners. Bikeshare users should not pay for all the costs of buying, administering, managing, and insuring a robust bikeshare network. Costs have inflated a lot since Reddy Bikeshare got launched in 2016, but our pricing has remained virtually the same. With help from partners, chief among them Independent Health, we’re proud to offer access to bikes as low as 60 cents per hour. Deploying electric-assist bikes has added new costs to the network, but with annual pass members paying $6 per hour, we’re proud that Reddy+ stands out as one of the most affordable access points to using an e-bike.
This Spring, Reddy Bikeshare launches its 10th season of providing low-cost active transportation in Western New York. The Reddy Team, alongside Independent Health, is excited to see so many people embracing this option of going out and pedaling! With plans to extend bikeshare’s reach farther, We’re confident users will once again hit new records in 2025!
