GREENbike, Salt Lake City’s non-profit bike share program, has eclipsed its previous record for ridership in a single week.
From July 24 – July 30th, 330 GREENbikes were ridden 6,800 times. The four-year old system expanded with eight new stations this spring, and is now comprised of 33 stations in the downtown core. Much of this success can be attributed to a 127% increase in annual user ridership. GREENbike management attributes the dramatic growth to the system’s station density.
“This explosive growth clearly illustrates what we’ve said all along: more stations equals greater convenience and greater convenience equals a lot more riders,” said GREENbike director Ben Bolte. “If we were to substantially expand the system, the possibilities are near limitless.”
The most popular new station is the Backcountry.com Station located on 100 South Main Street near City Creek Center. Not only is 100 South Main Street the most popular new station, it has already become the third largest sales generator in the 33-station system.
To put these numbers and milestone in perspective, last year more than 30,000 people rode an average of 200 GREENbikes over 106,000 times. GREENbike riders burned more than 11,500,000 calories and removed over 670,000 vehicle miles from local roads in that year. In 2016, GREENbike anticipates beating 2015’s figures by more than 30%.
Another goal of bike sharing is to encourage more female cyclists. Last year, GREENbike increased their number of female users by more than 10%, for a total 42%. This is almost 20% higher than the national average for bicycle commuting.
