Now you can donate Biketown credits to people in need (and other bike share news)

Biketown for all!
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

A new program offered by Portland’s bike share system gives members and account holders an opportunity to play Santa this holiday season.

Biketown’s “Pay it Forward” program gives riders with surplus credits on their account the ability to donate them to others. Specifically, the account credits can be given to the system’s Biketown For All program that helps people cover the cost of their first month of membership.

Biketown for All was launched two years ago and currently has 440 members, all of whom receive reduced fares ($3 per month). The Portland Bureau of Transportation says Biketown for All members are the most active users of the system, with seven of them in the top ten for overall mileage.

Biketown account holders can receive $1 credits on their account when they return an undocked bicycle to specially-marked “Bonus” stations, or for retrieving bikes that are outside the service area. The average Biketown member has five credits on their account at any given time.

“After signing up, many Biketown users quickly generate more positive credits on their balance than they need,” PBOT said in a statement about the new program last week. “Leading to a surplus that could easily be reallocated to users who could use some financial support.”

Here’s more from PBOT:

All new Biketown for All members will receive the $3 Pay-it-Forward credit and, as part of their membership, agree that when they generate enough credit to pay for their next 6 months, $3 will be donated from their account back into the Pay-it-Forward program. The “Pay it Forward” opportunity will be available for general Biketown members this season, to give all Biketown members, not just Biketown for All members, an opportunity to contribute and support the program.

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To check your balance and participate in this program, just log into your Biketown account and fill out a form.

In other bike share news…

Lyft’s new bike.

– Lyft recently finalized its deal to acquire Motivate (something we reported back in July). Motivate is the company that operates Biketown and many other large bike share systems across the U.S. Lyft says 80 percent of all bike share rides in the country were made on Motivate systems last year.

In a show of strength and well-timed PR, Lyft also announced a $100 million upgrade to New York City’s bike share program that will add 40,000 new bikes and triple the size of its fleet.

My hunch is Lyft is a very strong contender to do something similar in Portland once our current contract with Nike is up this summer. Biketown is desperate for a cash infusion and Lyft is well-positioned to provide it. The company doesn’t have the political baggage of Uber (who owns a competing bike share/scooter brand Jump), and Lyft’s head of scooter and bike policy, Caroline Samponaro, is a big fan of Portland. Samponaro attended the recent Alice Awards fundraiser for The Street Trust and the company was a major sponsor of the event.

Scooters didn’t hurt bike share use in Portland. The Willamette Week reported late last month that Biketown ridership increased during the four-month e-scooter pilot. “The popularity of e-scooters,” they wrote, “in combination with the increased use of bike share paint an encouraging picture of a less car-dependent city.”

It’s not hard to close your eyes and fast-forward to fall 2019 when we’ve got: major protected bikeways projects underway (thanks to Central City in Motion), a vastly upgraded bike share system, and phase two of our e-scooter pilot humming along. A guy can dream, can’t he?

Learn more about the program here.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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crank
crank
5 years ago

Looks like PBOT is having trouble financing its low-income program so it’s asking its customers to help foot the bill. Classy.

Ted Timmons (Contributor)
Reply to  crank

Reminds me of how PBOT relies on volunteers to get pretty much any project for people on foot or on wheel done.

9watts
5 years ago

Waiting for Trimet to follow suit.
When I was in Denmark thirty years ago, I was intrigued to discover a clever system in use where bus passengers exiting the bus could skewer their transfers-with-a-remaining-balance on a nail atop a post at the stop. Those boarding without a transfer could help themselves to the partially used transfers.
A nice collective, and basically free, system that could help reduce inequality.

9watts
5 years ago
Reply to  9watts

Aarhus specifically. I have no idea how widespread that practice was then or if it continued.

Mick O
Mick O
5 years ago
Reply to  9watts

Thanks for sharing the anecdote without any data. Guess we’ll allow it. 🙂

9watts
5 years ago
Reply to  Mick O

Anecdotes are great. I never meant to discourage them, though my comment you are referring to did regrettably suggest that. I do think there is a difference between someone’s individual experience with an e-bike and an encounter with a fare/transfer system, that differs from what I have otherwise experienced.
I am not making the kind of sweeping claims about this briefly encountered institution, as the person to whom I was responding was: “Saying ebikes are for people who don’t want to exercise is pure stupidity!” I just mentioned it as an analogy, something to think about.

Johnny Bye Carter
Johnny Bye Carter
5 years ago
Reply to  9watts

I always do that with my parking tickets downtown. I stick them in the return slot when they still have over 30 minutes on them. When I used to use paper bus tickets I did the same thing, sticking them somewhere to the stop I got off at, or offering them to the people in line to board.

Chris
Chris
5 years ago

I am having trouble finding a specific link to “donate my credits”. I have over $50, and would like to donate that. I was aiming to making my next year of BIKETOWN free, but this would be a better use since I can afford it.

Johnny Bye Carter
Johnny Bye Carter
5 years ago
Reply to  Chris

Here’s the link that Jonathan left out: https://www.biketownpdx.com/blog/pay-it-forward-this-holiday-season

Had to Google it.

Mick O
Mick O
5 years ago

crank
Looks like PBOT is having trouble financing its low-income program so it’s asking its customers to help foot the bill. Classy.Recommended 1

Isn’t that how pretty much any program to help low-income users works? Where do you think money comes from?

Johnny Bye Carter
Johnny Bye Carter
5 years ago
Reply to  Mick O

They’re supposed to tax us so that we all pay.

Hazel
Hazel
5 years ago

I think it’s a misconception that Lyft doesn’t have the political baggage as Uber. They’re both doing the same exact thing. Both provide almost no recourse for reporting unsafe driving and both are contributing to congestion issues in cities. Both treat drivers as independent contractors denying folks benefits and saving themselves tons of money.

Hazel
Hazel
5 years ago
Reply to  Hazel

One of Lyft’s big investors is also one of Trump’s advisors and is all for the immigration ban. And from the Guardian:
Despite the fuzzy moustaches and messages of inclusivity, Lyft’s fundamental business model is the same as Uber’s. This means that Lyft drivers are not categorized as employees and so do not benefit from a broad range of legal protections. Independent contractors are not entitled to minimum wage, overtime, health insurance, workers’ compensation, unemployment or lower taxes. They also have to pay for gas and car maintenance. It was only after California drivers filed a lawsuit against the company that Lyft agreed to provide additional driver benefits, while maintaining their independent contractor status.

Johnny Bye Carter
Johnny Bye Carter
5 years ago
Reply to  Hazel

It’s really easy to report Uber and Lyft drivers to the companies.

Champs
Champs
5 years ago

If scooters are eating into anything I’ll bet it was trips on Uber and Lyft. Summer seemed to have less of that “hovering” behavior from drives that I’ve recognized as a signal to watch out for the sudden appearance of car doors or people in the bike lane.

Also, Lime insists that they collected the scooter I reported to them but it’s still in my driveway.

Johnny Bye Carter
Johnny Bye Carter
5 years ago
Reply to  Champs

After 30 days I’d consider it my scooter if it was left on my property and reported to the company. That’s how it works with other motor vehicles.