Green bikes = e-bikes! WE-cycle launches e-bikeshare in Aspen and Basalt.

Being stuck in traffic is an unfortunate part of the local commuting experience. Now imagine sitting at a traffic light waiting for the light to turn green from red. WE-cycle’s e-bikeshare pilot is emblematic of that feeling of the light turning green. Green means go. Green is sustainable. Green is the color of our 6 new e-bikes, 3 in Aspen and 3 in Basalt, which comprise our e-bikeshare pilot program which rolled out August 5th. 

WE-cycle’s e-bikeshare pilot is designed to remove physical and time-pressure barriers to bike commuting and get our community biking more and driving less. With bikes proving to be such a healthy, active, and socially-distant form of travel, access to e-bikeshare is expected to motivate riders to take more uphill journeys and commute from further distances. The goal of the e-bikeshare pilot is to energize commuters to take advantage of local bike infrastructure, reduce carbon emissions, traffic congestion and vehicle miles traveled.

WE-cycle’s pilot e-bikeshare program is funded through grants received from the City of Aspen and Town of Basalt and is an important first step in determining if there is community interest in future e-bike expansion. The green e-bikes will be docked alongside our well-known silver pedal-powered bikes and can be found by downloading the app Transit and looking for the WE-cycle station pin with a lightning bolt icon. Riders can check out and return e-bikes in the same way they use a pedal-powered WE-cycle bike. For checking out, the Transit app gives users an Unlock Code or users can insert their key card at any docking point and can use their key card.

Riders will continue to benefit from free, 30-minute bike rides when checking out the silver, pedal-powered bicycles; however, e-bikes will only be free for the first 20-minutes to encourage quick trips. To further nudge riders to stick to the 20-minute ride period, there is a fee of $5 per minute for each additional minute. Yes, this fee is expensive but it was designed to discourage riders from keeping e-bikes for extended recreation and not transit-oriented trips. This fee structure was determined in partnership with local bike shops with the specific intent of not competing with their thriving e-bike rental business. For those wanting to take longer trips, we encourage traditional bike rentals from  local bike shops.

Community feedback has helped to bring this e-bikeshare pilot to fruition and the community’s input is important in assessing possible next steps. Please take one of the green e-bikes for a spin and we thank you in advance for completing this survey and sharing your thoughts.