We’ve signed an agreement to acquire BCycle from Trek. We’re gearing up to grow, scale, and invest for our future – and the future of bike share. Learn more

Gearing up for Growth: Announcement from CEO Kristin Gavin-Wisniewski

Friends, I’m excited to share some big news – Bicycle Transit Systems has entered into an agreement to acquire BCycle from Trek. 

The acquisition will make Bicycle Transit Systems the only vertically integrated docked bike share company in North America. We will be able to expand mobility options by providing cities nationwide with seamless solutions for building, installing, and managing docked, electrified bike share.

We are so proud to enter this new phase of growth with BCycle, America’s first bike share company. Since 2008, BCycle has delivered quality equipment and hardware for dozens of bike share systems, including our Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas markets.  

When the acquisition closes in October, Bicycle Transit Systems will acquire BCycle’s contracts, software, hardware, and future product development, including:

Ten BCycle-owned and operated bike share systems in communities across the U.S., including Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Madison, and Boulder. 

Bikes, docking stations, and software sales and support for 15 other communities, including Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee.

Synergies from the acquisition will allow us to grow and invest in product and technology innovation to more affordably and efficiently meet cities’ unique local needs. With greater flexibility and oversight of product development, we can design real-time solutions to pressing equity, safety, and climate challenges. 

The bottom line is that Bicycle Transit Systems can now better meet its core mission—to deliver the best customer experience possible for our riders and advance the future of bike share in the markets we serve.  

The Bicycle Transit Systems leadership team is excited to add BCycle’s Brian Conger and Caitlin O’Connell to our roster of experienced bike share leaders as our new Chief Business Officer and Product Director to ensure a smooth transition for our partner agencies and riders.

We are thrilled to have you along as we gear up for growth.

Onward together,

Kristin

One trip around the sun! A message from Kristin Gavin-Wisniewski, CEO

It was suggested to me this past Spring, that in the role of CEO, I may want to consider starting a blog to post regular announcements and updates to our staff and general audience. At that point, I think I blinked blankly at the request as if to indicate my internal dialogue “What? What would I say?  I’m still trying to figure this new role out!”. However, as Fall settles upon us, and I near the end of my first trip around the sun as CEO, I have found the headspace to reflect on the whirlwind of the past year.

Before I dive into our world of Bike Transit and bike share, it seems incredibly important to frame the past year in some of the major events that have taken place in the world:

  • the war and human rights atrocities in Ukraine,
  • the roll-back of Roe v. Wade and the reality that abortion is no longer a right in the United States,
  • continued pervasiveness of gun violence and mass shootings across the United States, many of which are targeted at or most prevalent in predominantly AAPI, Black or Latinx communities,
  • prevalence of bigotry that aims to create division over unity, and
  • the ongoing hum of COVID that we have all come to live with…

…just to name a few.  

In the wake of the realities of the world we are living in, I hold close to my heart the fact that the work that we do at Bike Transit can, and does, create meaningful and positive change, and as well as hope in the chaos. In reflecting on the past year, I want to highlight and celebrate what we are doing at Bike Transit to affect positive change.

Prioritize Culture: Update to Our Vision, Mission and Values  

As a company, we launched into 2022 by framing our work in a revision to our mission, vision and value statements. I have leaned on these countless times over the past year to help guide difficult decisions and encourage me when I need the extra push.

Our new vision, mission, and values are: Every person has a bike. We operate bike share systems that create connections in our communities and protect our planet. We are DEIJ-driven, Innovative and Responsible.

Close your eyes and picture it: Everyone has access to experience the freedom, the connection to community, and ability to travel emissions free — a bike!

Act Deliberately: We created a Strategic Plan and Goals  

To build the scaffolding to our vision, we launched Bike Transit’s first strategic plan based on three basic commitments: People. Planet. Prosperity. This was BIG! As a company we have put forth substantial goals that we had not been explicitly talking about before including how our work can protect the planet, increase shared prosperity among key stakeholders from our riders to our employees, and deepen our commitment to being DEIJ-driven. Our approach was to keep it simple — so we identified two goals for each commitment and designed an annual tactical plan to align our valuable resources of time, energy, and money to move the dial on each of these in a measured way.  

Our goals highlight how we are doing the work in our house so that we can do the work in our communities.  I am in awe of the learning journey that I have been able to share with team members across the organization and the ways that we have been able to challenge ourselves.  And I am inspired to grow, evolve and one day at a time, do the work to actualize these goals.   

Acknowledge and Celebrate Progress 

Under the framework of our vision, mission, values and strategic plan, below are just some examples of the progress we have made over the past year: 

People:

  • We doubled down on our commitment to Diversity Equity Inclusion and Justice by implementing a 3-part training series for all employees with a 90% completion rate. We have identified four tenants of white dominant culture that are most prominent in our work environment, and their antidotes. In just a short time, I have experienced and observed team members, including myself, identifying and engaging in dialogue on this in our day-to-day interactions.   
  • We implemented criteria and a diverse slate process to improve hiring and access to a diverse and talented pool of candidates for all positions at the company.  
  • We are actively building DEIJ Champions at Bike Transit through increased engagement and participation in DEIJ employee-led committees across all teams in the company through the utilization of the Awake to Woke to Work framework.   
  • All bike share systems have worked on equitable expansion plans in partnership with key stakeholders.

Planet:

  • Ridership is on the rise in Philly, Vegas and LA!  Through the tireless efforts of bike and station deployment to customer service and promotions made by every team member, Bike Transit is on track to power 1.3 million trips this year – nearly 20% more trips than 2021. 
  • We launched a Net Zero Advisory Group to drive our work towards becoming a Carbon Neutral company. Measurements have been taken that will help us establish baseline emissions from which we will identify the areas where our change can have the greatest impact on climate change.

Prosperity:  

For clarity, we define prosperity as the state of being successful or thriving, including money, health AND happiness. Our vision for prosperity extends to our employees, riders, public agency partners and the communities where we operate.

  • As CEO, I prioritized prosperity for 2022, specifically the launch of a reduced work week pilot. As we begin to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, I believe we must acknowledge the toll that the past few years has taken on us and innovatively identify ways to improve work-life balance and well-being for each and every team member. Our pilot looks like this — employees receive 100% of the compensation for working a 34-hour work week instead of a 40-hour work week with the goal of sustaining overall productivity and a best-in-class customer experience. The pilot launched in July with Customer Service and will be applied company-wide by the end of March 2023.    
  • Bike Transit is a company built on partnerships. Our bike share systems are the product of public-private partnerships with LA Metro, RTC in Las Vegas, and the City of Philadelphia, while our Customer Service Department is a key service provider to more than 15 partner bike share programs, including BCycle, who is also our product provider. More recently we have entered into a partnership with the Transportation Workers Union Local 320 to finalize the first bargaining unit contract for our LA Operations staff. The common thread to all these partnerships is that trust and transparency are key to our ability to establish, and actualize, a shared vision for progress and success.  
  • And last, but certainly not least, we have expanded our commitment to prosperity for our riders by implementing and expanding reduced fare pass options in Philly, Vegas and LA in 2022.

This is just the beginning.  There is much more work to do — there is more positive change to make.

To each and every Bike Transit team member – this work and these accomplishments are possible because of you and the hard work and heart you bring to work each day.  I see you, I see your contributions, and I deeply appreciate you!  Thank you!

I look forward to continuing this journey with you and thank you for taking the ride with me!

Pedal on safely,

Kristin

CEO Announcement: Bike Transit Announces New CEO

A message from Alison Cohen, Founder of Bike Transit:

As you know, I founded the company and have been deeply involved in all aspects of its operations and leadership. I’ve loved all of it –it’s been amazing to see bikeshare grow and see Bike Transit grow from infancy to a full-grown teenager. And it’s time for Bike Transit to grow in new ways beyond its founding. To that end, I’ll be stepping into a role. I will be dedicating my time to business development to figure out how we can grow up and out, and I will be reporting to the new CEO.

I am excited to announce that stepping into the role of CEO of Bike Transit is Kristin Gavin-Wisniewski. Kristin has been the fearless leader of Indego Bike Share in Philadelphia for 6 years, and a champion of bike share equity.

As owner of the company, I am far from disappearing. I am still deeply passionate about bike share and intend to work closely with the team to help grow micromobility in the US.

Best,

Alison

A message from Kristin Gavin-Wisniewski, CEO of Bike Transit:

I am thrilled to be stepping in to lead Bike Transit. I have never felt more committed to our team and our work of bringing bike share to communities. Over the past 18 months, I have experienced what it is like to be a human-being in a pandemic; developed a deepened awareness and understanding of the racial and social inequities that perpetuate injustices and separate us; and experienced first-hand the impending impacts of climate change. By operating bike share programs, we get to be a part of the fabric of the community – an amazing privilege and opportunity in which our work can be a force for good.

I am fired up and ready to go, with a sense of urgency to affect positive change.

Let’s do this!

Kristin

Stop AAPI Hate

Bike Transit stands with the Asian American Pacific Islander community.
Bike Transit は、アジア系アメリカ人(AAPI)のコミュニティを支持しています
Ang Bike Transit ay nakatayo kasama ang komunidad ng mga Asyano-Amerikanong Taga-isla Pasipiko.
Bike Transit 和亞裔美國太平洋島民社區在一起
Bike Transit 는 아시아계 미국인 태평양 제도민 커뮤니티와 함께합니다.
Bike Transit ủng hộ cộng đồng người Mỹ gốc Á và người dân vùng đảo Thái Bình Dương.
Bike Transit ยืนอยู่คู่กับชุมชนชาวเกาะแห่งเอเชียอเมริกันแปซิฟิก

As Women’s History Month comes to a close we are reminded of our collective responsibility to stand against discrimination and hate. We, Alison and Carniesha, write this as two leaders who identify as various intersections of marginalized communities: female, Black, Jewish, LGBTQ, and we advocate for actions needed to address disparities and improve life outcomes for all. Racist, xenophobic and misogynic attacks on the Asian American Pacific Islander community are happening and deserve more attention and support from us all.  

Our company, Bike Transit, stands with the AAPI community and their position on the realities of recent and past tragedies. While there may be conflict from media and others as to whether or not these are hate crimes, countless members from the AAPI community have stated these murderous attacks result from historical mistreatment of their community. The laws in our land historically make it difficult for marginalized communities to “prove” hate crimes and despite this, again we stand with and support what AAPI and other marginalized groups know to be true- unfettered hate results in lives lost.  

Tuesday, March 17th hours before the tragic event in Atlanta where 8 people were killed including 6 Asian women and 1 Latina woman, we held our monthly companywide BOOST Coffee and Conversation where our topic for the month was bringing awareness to the underreporting of AAPI hate incidents. As colleagues we discussed what we can do to support AAPI anti-hate efforts and our colleagues who are a part of this community.  We’re not committed to just having conversations, as a company we are committed to taking the journey of addressing how systemic oppressions like White Supremacy, racism and misogyny impact us an individuals, colleagues and community members.  

We understand long term commitment is required—words and solidarity statements aren’t enough. To ensure both communities and riders see themselves in our actions and services, in 2020 Bike Transit developed a DEIJ (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice) plan to deepen our previous efforts to improve internal and external business practices. While we have a long-term commitment, we also understand urgency and real time action is needed especially during times of devastation such as last week. Here at Bike Transit:

  • Members of Bike Transit’s DEIJ Committee have enrolled in Bystander Intervention Training to Stop Anti-Asian American and Xenophobic Harassment offered through www.ihollaback.org. This will help guide future trainings and events offered to all employees.
  • We are donating to AAPI-led community-based organizations in the cities of the bike share systems we operate, who provide critical services to AAPI and other community members as they address the needs of vulnerable individuals and families. 
  • We continue to elevate Bike Transit’s position on DEIJ issues internally and externally. 

This is hard work and we believe in our collective ability to be the change we want to see in our communities and society as whole. We encourage our bike share industry colleagues and other stakeholders to join us in anti-hate AAPI and other justice driven actions!

In Solidarity,  
Alison Cohen, Chief Executive Officer and  
Carniesha Kwashie, Chief Equity and Strategy Officer

Black Lives Matter

Bike Transit unequivocally, absolutely supports nationwide protests and Black Lives Matters

Typically at Bike Transit, we work behind the scenes. Indego is the Philly brand, Metro Bike Share in LA, RTC Bike Share in Vegas, Bloc delivery, our new baby startup. Our employees work in all weather everyday and night to take care of our bike share systems. We have powered over 4 million bike rides, through hurricanes, blizzards, strikes and now a pandemic. We have incredible city partners, and have been honored to grow with them, in implementing and operating bike share systems that are equitably planned, marketed and operated. With the unpredictable world of bike share and Silicon Valley scooters, Bike Transit is still here.

While doing this, for the past 4 years, Bike Transit has quietly prioritized and institutionalized diversity, equity and inclusion, and powered equitable bike share in our cities. Our background position is humble, and safe. However, the time is now that Bike Transit, and I as its leader, must change that. Specifically, the act of writing this post is both an acknowledgement of the power and position that I have, or can have, as a CEO, and it is my transition to being an active anti-racist leader, not only internal to the company, but outwardly as well.

Bike Transit unequivocally and absolutely stands in solidarity with our black colleagues and the black communities we serve against racism of all kinds – historic, systemic, micro-aggressed, unconscious and outright. The facts, knowledge and belief that the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, the white woman’s threat to Christian Cooper in Central Park, and the dozens, hundreds, thousands, millions of black people who have been murdered, lynched, oppressed, enslaved, imprisoned, for hundreds of years, are the result of deep-seated institutional racism in American society since its beginning. We have tried at Bike Transit, brick-by-brick, to dismantle the foundations of racist institutions, through equitable access to bike share, equitable operations, employee education, HR policy and hiring. And leaders in our company, myself included, must constantly examine and intentionally correct how our racist society is impacting what we do at Bike Transit and in our lives.

We at Bike Transit stand behind the protests, are allies to Black Lives Matter, and the movement to disassemble the foundations of institutional racism. We will continue to work to implement such practices in our company and in our bike share systems. To further this mission and amplify the voices of those who are on the front line of this battle, we have made donations to The Minnesota Freedom Fund, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Know Your Rights Camp. These donations follow past significant support for the ACLU, and for local groups in our communities providing programming, infrastructure and support for the safe streets, transportation and youth support.

In the coming weeks, Bike Transit will be creating safe spaces for our employees to discuss their experiences and opinions, and identify ways to be agents of change. The first such conversation happened in LA on Friday and we will be providing similar forums on a regular basis, both local and company-wide in the future .

I am angry at all of this, and I can only imagine the anger that people of color feel, having experienced everyday discrimination their whole lives. As a leader, however, I do not do well being motivated by anger. I have come to understand that the change I lead is motivated by a positive and hopeful vision, and is implemented piece by piece. I have led Bike Transit in this way in implementing our bike share systems, and in implementing BOOST, Bike Transit’s company-wide DEI working group. The bike share systems that we have launched and the hard work that we do every day may not seem revolutionary, but our work has supported the transportation equity movement. Our employees share our long-term commitment to true equity in our society, where every person is treated as a human, and have the same opportunity in life, no matter their race, gender, income standing or background.

One thing I am aware of as I write this: I have made and will make mistakes along the way. They will be active mistakes, and that is incredibly scary. To date, I have been an outwardly passive actor and not used my power and my position to advance anti-racism. I have stayed safe and therefore have supported racist people and institutions. That must stop. As a middle-aged woman, I have had my power marginalized to men, and even given them power because its safer. With this moment, I am vowing to be more than an ally, but a true partner with the black community and people of color, and to take my position of power to advance in solidarity against racism, despite the associated personal, professional, public risks that come along with this promise.

Perhaps I can help supply an extra push to the battering rams to destroy the ugly foundations of racism in America. 

Alison Cohen
Founder, Owner, President and CEO of Bicycle Transit Systems

UPDATE: With this post, I’m challenging leaders in the bike, bike share and micromobility industry to use your power, your positions, to look at your organizations, take actions, educate yourself and your staff, have conversations, take a public stand. If you don’t have that power in your organization, push the folks in power to do so. It’s scary and risky. Reach out to me and let’s take that step together to become active anti-racists, and put bikes and transportation at the forefront of bringing down systemic racism.

If we are not active against, we are passively supporting racism.

New Strategic Alliance

Bicycle Transit Systems (Bike Transit) and BCycle have signed a strategic alliance agreement to cement the relationship of the industry-leading bike share operator and equipment provider. Since 2015, the companies have implemented four bike share systems together: Philadelphia’s Indego bike share, Los Angeles’ Metro Bike Share, Las Vegas’ RTC Bike Share and Oklahoma City’s Spokies bike share (relaunch). As part of the strategic alliance, BCycle’s parent, Trek Bicycle, is making an equity investment in Bike Transit.

“I am elated to cement this relationship with BCycle and Trek, as we are both best-in-class bike share service providers, and committed to creating an optimal bike share customer experience,” said Alison Cohen, President and CEO of Bicycle Transit Systems. “I am proud to team with BCycle, a company with strong financial stability, highly professional operations and people who share our key values of under-promising, over-delivering and acting with integrity, honesty and kindness in all dealings.” This transaction will allow the two companies to offer communities in the US and internationally world-class, premium bike share operations, equipment, software and service. Trek’s investment ensures financial stability for the company, as well as the ability to rapidly expand current systems and launch new systems.

“We are committed to finding additional ways for even more communities to introduce bike share to their residents and visitors,” Burns said. “Bike Transit’s proven leadership in bike share operations is undeniable. Our experience with them has been extremely positive, and we can’t wait to work together to offer even more communities an integrated bike share ecosystem that furthers the bicycle’s – and bike share’s – role in public transit.”

The strategic alliance allows for collaborative product development and operations to ensure that cities receive a system that works best for their needs, starting with a seamless install to consistent operations and customer service. Cities looking to bring bike share to their communities can now enjoy the benefit of “one stop shopping” by working with BCycle and Bike Transit through this new strategic alliance. BCycle will provide the hardware and software while Bike Transit will provide full-service operations.

BCycle currently has more than 1,290 stations and 11,000 bikes on the ground in 43 communities in North and South America, while Bike Transit operates bike share programs in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City and Las Vegas.