Portland-based Ride App relaunches, hopes to amplify e-bike boom

App screenshots and company graphic.

As e-bike purchase incentive programs grow, having data to justify their impact could be key.


“I think we have an opportunity to harness what’s happening with e-bikes and make it much more impactful.”

– William Henderson, Ride App

Ride App, a smartphone application started in Portland that automatically tracks bike rides, has relaunched after going dark for three years. And while every bike user is welcome to use it, Ride App’s relaunch was precipitated by the national electric bike boom that took place during the pandemic. The new version of the app will encourage more electric bike usage and use the data it collects to promote e-bike incentive programs.

Portland-based tech entrepreneur and bike advocate William Henderson started Ride App to complement his company Ride Report, a platform that aims to help cities with shared micro mobility programs. In 2019, he decided – with a heavy heart – to take the app down and focus on other aspects of Ride Report. But Henderson took a look at the e-bike adoption happening nationwide and saw a new need for this kind of ride tracking app.

“I think we have an opportunity to really harness what’s happening with people naturally buying the e-bikes and make it much more impactful,” Henderson told me on a recent phone call.

William Henderson, Ride Report CEO (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

According to the Ride App team, much of the new interface is the same. The main difference is that users are asked to report whether they’re riding an electric or regular bicycle when they set up their account, which is included in the data the app collects and reports to cities and other governments.

E-bike incentives are popping up throughout the country and Henderson thinks app data can serve to boost the efficacy of these programs. The Ride Report team first relaunched the new app in Denver, where a new e-bike rebate program is encouraging an unprecedented number of people to buy electric bikes.

“As people inevitably start to scrutinize these programs, somebody somewhere is going to be angry or worried about what’s going to happen. Cities need to be able to have data that proves that this is impactful,” he said.

The fact that this app tracks rides automatically is crucial for gathering data. People won’t always go out of their way to begin a trip on an app if it doesn’t do it for them, and then the app will just get lost in their smartphone’s proverbial junk drawer. This means people aren’t tracking every ride they take, which limits what analysts can glean from the app.

“We know that the trips that are going to be most interesting to bike planners are the kinds of sort of short errands and commutes, not epic 80 mile rides,” Henderson said. “I think that’s one of the things that makes the app unique. We know these e-bike trips are pretty short – a lot of them are not recreational. You have to have that automatic ride tracking technology.”

Another reason the Ride App team is excited about the relaunch is because they think it can provide another incentive for people to ride their bikes – which will hopefully result in a positive cycle of more e-bike ridership encouraging more e-bike rebates (and so on).

“Folks have already taken advantage of the financial incentive to get them over the fence. What are those folks doing now that they have this bike in their garage or their apartment?” said Nelle Pierson, a bike share and nonprofit advocacy veteran who now heads marketing at Ride Report. “We want to be there facilitating that transition to using that e-bike for the majority of their trips.”

These in-app incentives include trophies and rewards for riding certain places or in rough weather. This might seem small, but to someone who isn’t naturally inclined to hop on a bike to get somewhere, something like this could be the push they need to get on their bike that day.

“It’s just built to be fun. It’s not built to be competitive in a way where you’re trying to be the fastest or anything like that,” Henderson said. “I think everybody can have something that they can be proud of and feel really good about.”

We recently looked into a new Portland State University study that explored the importance of using different types of data to count how many people are biking in an area so agencies can use that information to make policy decisions. This relaunched app is yet another type of data collection service to add to the mix.

The Ride App team says the easiest way to download the relaunched app is by going to their website on your phone. It’s still early days, so they’re seeking feedback from all bike users about how to make it better, either via Twitter or the feedback feature in the app.

“Hopefully, folks will find that the app is just the same old app that they used and loved, whether they’re riding an e-bike or not,” Henderson said.


*Note: App currently available only for iOS.

Taylor Griggs

Taylor Griggs

Taylor was BikePortland's staff writer from 2021 to 2023. She currently writes for the Portland Mercury. Contact her at taylorgriggswriter@gmail.com

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maxD
maxD
1 year ago

This is great news! I used the old app and grew to really love it. I initially downloaded it in the hopes that my commute routes would show up to the City and receive some attention. I ended up becoming interested and surprised at how many miles I racked up in a week. I was i nthe habit of tracking longer, recreational rides, but did not bother with commutes/errands. This app worked pretty well, and after accruing a couple of years of data, it was cool to look back at my personal trends and habits. I did find it motivating- I had set a monthly goal as a New Year’s resolution, and I was disappointed the app was shut down before I could complete my goal- now I get a second crack at it.

I don’t have an e-bike, and i hope this app will still work for people using traditional bikes.

foobike
foobike
1 year ago
Reply to  maxD

I registered to be a beta tester of the recently rebooted Ride app several weeks ago and have been using it since then, works as good as it did before and none of the bikes I ride is an e-bike. So yeah this is excellent news indeed – I was a big fan of the old Ride app as well. On top of that the Ride Report team is good people.

Watts
Watts
1 year ago

When I was young, my father told me that some people used to ride non-motorized bikes without using an app. I wonder if that’s even possible.

MC
MC
1 year ago
Reply to  Watts

I’ve heard rumor of such strange and simpler times.

TheCat
TheCat
1 year ago

It seems weird that the app assumes I only ride one type of bike on the regular. I have electric and non-electric bikes. I told it I mostly ride a non-electric bike, but it would be more accurate to say “about 50/50.” There doesn’t appear to be any way to change the answer to that question in the settings, so even if I switched to 100% electric, the app will forever think I’m riding a non-electric bike.

Carrie
Carrie
1 year ago
Reply to  TheCat

I don’t know if it’s necessarily weird, but I do wonder how many of us fall into this category of using both modes regularly — ebike and non-ebike. I’d also appreciate the option of being able to chose my mode, though this might go against the whole premise of not needing to do anything with the app other than having installed. That’s a valid trade.

Paul Cone
Paul Cone
1 year ago

This is very exciting. Can we get it to feed into Strava?

emeeeeeeeeeeee
emeeeeeeeeeeee
1 year ago

Best news in a while! I have missed Ride Report, uh, Ride App and its hilarious badges so, so much! Just this last Thursday I was at Sunset Moonrise Ride trying to explain why it was so awesome (automatic tracking) and why I missed it so much. Now I don’t have to be sad anymore.

Nick
Nick
1 year ago

Unfortunately in the current climate of pervasive user tracking and spying, I’m not going to be installing an application that has always on tracking

quicklywilliam
1 year ago
Reply to  Nick

This is totally relatable, Nick. We share your concern about the potential for abuse and misuse of digital tracking technology- particularly location tracking. In particular, I am deeply concerned by how technology companies might (and in some cases, already have) share location data to enable enforcement of laws that restrict reproductive rights. Our guiding principle is that new technology should allow more folks to bike more often, but never at the cost of limiting our rights to move freely and privately.

For this reason, we made the choice to have Ride App operate completely anonymously and without uploading *any* potentially identifying information. This means that any and all personal data (including GPS data) never leaves your phone. We don’t have access to it, and we can’t share it with anyone. The only thing the app transmits is anonymous metadata that is extremely unlikely to reveal personal information. This includes the length of trips, whether they were via pedal or electric bikes, and the zip code of the origin and destination.

Nick
Nick
1 year ago
Reply to  quicklywilliam

Interesting, thanks

MC
MC
1 year ago
Reply to  quicklywilliam

Although I won’t use any app that isn’t 100% essential, which means I’ll never use a biking specific app like Strava or Bike App, I respect what you’ll have done regarding privacy. Thank you.

Carrie
Carrie
1 year ago

Current version is only for the Apple OS (iPhones). I’d recommend updating the story with this info so us Android users don’t try to download it.

Chris I
Chris I
1 year ago
Reply to  Carrie

Seems strange that they aren’t going after 87% of the market.

MC
MC
1 year ago
Reply to  Carrie

Hahaha! Well, no surprise there. Fail.