Bike Share Starts Thursday! #RideIndego Sneak Peek

Philly, are you ready for Bike Share?

Great news that we’ve all been waiting for… Bike Share is coming THIS Thursday, April 23rd.

Bike Share will be available in Philly, 24 hours a day in 70 locations including neighborhoods like Point Breeze, Passyunk and Center City to Yorktown, Olde Kensington, Francisville and Spruce Hill.

According to the MOTU press release, Indego is the first bike share system in the USA to offer:

• A 30-day membership that will renew automatically and can be cancelled at anytime;
  
• A pay-as-you-ride membership, in which you pay only for the rides you take;
  
• Membership options that include 60 minutes of ride time before users incur additional fees; and
  
• A cash payment option for 30-day memberships.

The folks at Indego were nice enough to let me borrow a bike on Saturday to explore Northern Liberties/Fishtown with two-wheels. After all, I had to answer the question: Where will Indego take you?

Being a previous Northern Liberties resident – and wanting to get out on the beautiful day, I loved taking Indego for the convenience and fun of being on a bike.

Philadelphia Bike Share – demo Trip

I started off by swinging by where a bike share station will go, on 9th & Girard.

 Next, I swung by one of my favorite Mexadelphia haunts, Taco Riendo in Fishtown.

Although you’ll want to drop off your bike at the nearest station (with 70 to choose from, it relieves you from the stress of locking it up. But how sweet is this appropriately-themed cactus bike stand for your bike-owning friend while enjoying tacos?

I took a quick spin to Liberty Lands park, and chatted with fellow parkgoers enjoying the beautiful weather.

Next, I rode over to the Piazza to check out the game being broadcast on the big screen.

Finally, I ended up back at the Warehouse to see bikes as far as the eye can see.

They were hard at work to get the bike share ready for this Thursday!

My entire journey lasted under an hour – which is how a few of the bike share memberships are calculated.

Psyched to take the journey yourself?

How Indego Works:

• Become a member
• Get a bike from any bike share station. With a touch screen kiosk, it’s easy to take your bike, find the latest & info on the neighborhood you’re in.
• Ride around the city
• Return your bike to any station. Don’t worry – there’s an app for that, so you can see where the available bikes are throughout the city. If a station is full, you can tap the touch screen kiosk and add 15 more minutes complimentary until you find another station to drop off.

Cost

You can get three levels of membership (or two levels, plus one none-membership level.)

• Indego 30: $15/month – unlimited trips up to 1 hour (and then $4/hour).
• Indego Flex is $10/year, plus $4/hour
• WalkUp: Pay per trip ($4 / half hour.)

You can become a member now by signing up on the Indego website.