Since we launched our electric pedal-assist bikes in May 2019 they have been an absolute hit! The first month of e-bikes we struggled to keep the bikes charged they were being used so often. Several riders have told us that the e-bikes have changed their commutes and enabled them to use the system more regularly. Not only have many riders told us about all the fun they've been having with e-bikes but our ridership data backs up the e-bike love. The electric pedal-assist bikes get ridden 4 times more often than our classic bikes and on average 60% of trips each month have been taken by e-bikes since their launch. Due to their success, we have been working hard to make more electric pedal-assist bikes available to our riders!
We are thrilled to announce that we are adding another 70 e-bikes to our fleet in anticipation for our ORBT expansion. We will be adding stations at select
ORBT stations to help further connect the Heartland B-cycle system to Omaha's public transportation network. The new e-bikes will help fill in these new stations once they are installed but the bikes will be launched into the system now so users can enjoy the expanded e-bike access. Funding for the ORBT expansion project was provided by
Nebraska Environmental Trust and
Metro Transit. Download the
BCycle App today to locate e-bikes and get excited for increased availability of these popular bikes!
In addition to a large shipment of e-bikes, another exciting thing has been happening around the Heartland B-cycle shop lately. Our shop got an upgrade recently with this rad art installation thanks to the New North Makerhood, Future Forward, and Investors Realty! A huge thank you to
The Bike Union and Coffee and the
Community Bike Project Omaha for the bikes & bike parts for this project. These nonprofits do amazing work in our community and we appreciated their help bringing this bike wall to life. We think it's pretty amazing and, we know we're biased but, the B-cycle up top is definitely our favorite part.
We hope you get to ride one of the new electric pedal-assist bikes soon- some are already out in the system- and all are welcome to check out the new bike wall outside out shop at 1144 N 11th St. As always, follow us on
Facebook,
Instagram, and
Twitter for the latest updates about Heartland B-cycle and we can't wait to see you out there riding.
