Today, we celebrate the sixth anniversary of the Pacers Bikeshare program!
Pacers Bikeshare, Indianapolis’ community bike share program, is a partnership between the City of Indianapolis and Indianapolis Cultural Trail Inc. and continues to provide essential transportation to residents during the current stay-at-home orders.
“We are proud that Pacers Bikeshare is providing crucial transportation options to our residents right now,” said Kären Haley, Indianapolis Cultural Trail Executive Director. “For the past six years, Pacers Bikeshare has been used by visitors and residents. Currently, we know Indianapolis residents are using our community’s bike share program for transportation and for their physical and mental well-being. Pacers Bikeshare, a public-private partnership, is a part of making Indianapolis a resilient city now and in the future. People can continue to use bike share contact-free by checking out bikes on their mobile device using the BCycle app.”
Pacers Bikeshare launched on April 22, 2014 and doubled in size last fall to include 525 bikes and 50 bike share stations located as far north as Broad Ripple and as far south as Garfield Park. Citizens and visitors alike have taken 562,161 trips on the gold bikes since the program launched, riding more than 1.25 million miles in six years. Pacers Bikeshare riders have burned more than 50 million calories and offset an estimated 1.17 million tons of carbon using bike share.
“Our goal for last year’s expansion was to increase neighborhood access to Pacers Bikeshare so that more people had access to affordable and active transportation and recreation and that is proving to be a critical investment right now,” said Haley. “The expansion also helped us grow our EveryBody Rides program to include more community partners and provide more residents who qualify with a $5 monthly access pass.”
Pacers Bikeshare has implemented the following practices to help protect employee and rider health during this time:
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Users are sent a text after completing their ride prompting them to wash or sanitize their hands.
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Bikes are sanitized before employees work on them in the field or in the office and before they are returned to the field.
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There is minimal station balancing to reduce employee contact with the bikes and stations.
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Pacers Bikeshare communications remind people to follow CDC guidelines for hygiene and physical distancing.
This year’s celebration will be held virtually on Instagram and include an update from Haley, annual rider awards, and a “cheers” to another year of community bike share in Indianapolis. All are welcome to join today from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Instagram. Follow @PacersBikeshare to receive a notification when the stream is beginning.
Pacers Bikeshare is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Annual passes are available online at pacersbikeshare.org and on the BCycle mobile app.
By the Numbers: Six Years of Pacers Bikeshare
- Bikeshare Trips: 562,161
- Miles: 1,236,084, the equivalent of riding a bike from Seattle to Miami 375 times
- Carbon Offset: 1,170,794 tons, the equivalent of taking 112 cars off the road
- Calories Burned: 49,080,577, or the about the same number of calories in 251,695 donuts