ROARING FORK BROADCASTING COMPANY
The Roaring Fork region’s bike sharing program shattered its ridership record in 2023 and plans to pedal way past the mark in coming years because of expansion plans.
WE-cycle celebrated its 10th anniversary last year by providing 180,212 rides, which nearly doubled the ride count in 2022. There were nearly 10,000 individual customers accounting for the rides.
Rides increased in Aspen, midvalley and marginally in Snowmass Village, but the big boost came from the launch of service in Carbondale in August, according to Mirte Mallory, WE-cycle executive director. She briefed the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority’s board of directors about WE-cycle’s performance on Thursday. The bus agency is one of its biggest funding supporters. RFTA provided $790,388 in 2022 or about 60% of WE-cycle revenues.
“2023 was truly a watershed on so many fronts,” Mallory said.
One of the highlights was bringing Carbondale on board. WE-cycle installed 17 bike stations that provide 80 electric bikes and pedal bikes. There were an average of 203 rides per day, with 79% of them on e-bikes. Although the Carbondale stations didn’t open until August, it accounted a total of 31,077 rides through the end of the year. Carbondale was selected for WE-cycle’s pilot program of offering bikes year-round. Mallory said the demand has remained steady through winter. Peak ride times are between 3 and 6 p.m., with the RFTA park-and-ride lot along Highway 133 the most popular destination.
RFTA is a big financial and philosophical booster of WE-cycle as part of its first- and last-mile initiative, which strives to find ways to conveniently get people to bus stops for longer trips. The bike sharing stations are strategically placed to accomplish that goal. A rider survey showed that 36% of respondents use WE-cycle in combination with RFTA buses while another 7% used bikes in conjunction with internal bus service in Aspen and Basalt.
The survey also showed that 77% of respondents use WE-cycle to commute to work or school and 40% of them had never used a bike for their commute before tapping into WE-cycle.
“We’re giving people independence on two wheels,” Mallory said.
The average ride time for WE-cycle systemwide in 2023 was 8.6 minutes. WE-cycle made the decision in 2018 to offer fare-free service for bike rides under 30 minutes. That made a huge difference in ridership, Mallory said.
WE-cycle currently has 81 stations including 11 e-stations where e-bikes are charged. It has 421 bikes, with 153 of them e-bikes. Mallory said there has been a clear demand for e-bikes so more are getting mixed into the fleet. The organization envisions expanding to 88 stations and altering the mix in favor of e-bikes. The 2024 mix will be 255 e-bikes and 201 regular bikes.
A big expansion of the system is planned in 2024. Six stations are planned in Pitkin County around the Airport Business Center. A new station is planned at Burlingame phase three in the city of Aspen.
Plans for 2025 include adding 14 stations that include charging for 80 e-bikes in Snowmass Village.
WE-cycle staff has started planning an extensive launch in Glenwood Springs for 2026. While the expansion plan is aggressive, some RFTA board members want to see WE-cycle branch out even farther.
“Don’t forget about New Castle,” said Art Riddile, a town council member and representative to the RFTA board.
Mallory said her staff would definitely look at expansion potential into the Interstate 70 corridor.