PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland weather is finally heating up and giving cyclists the opportunity to enjoy rain-free rides throughout the week. Plus, the city’s premier bikeshare system has expanded its fleet just in time for more Portlanders to take advantage of the drier weather.
On Friday, Biketown — a collaborative effort between Nike, Lyft and the Portland Bureau of Transportation — announced that it’d be increasing its fleet by 500 bikes.
According to PBOT, about 200 new bikes are already available to Portlanders. The remaining 300 are expected to arrive over the summer, bringing the total fleet number up to 2,000 bikes.
This expansion announcement comes the year after Biketown broadened its service area by 9 square miles, now including more neighborhoods in East and North Portland.
The bikeshare system later reached a personal record of more than 575,000 rides in 2022, a 65% growth from the previous year — despite reports that Portland bike traffic has been decreasing overall.
PBOT says Biketown is projected to break its record again in 2023.
“I’m determined to help Downtown Portland recover from the pandemic,” Transportation Commissioner Mingus Mapps said in a press conference at Portland State University’s Urban Plaza. “Our public-private partnership with Biketown, and the expansion last year into North Portland and East Portland, will help some of the hardest hit areas of our community post-pandemic. It will help everyone experience the joys of biking, for generations to come.”
PSU Director of Transportation Ian Stude added that Biketown has provided an affordable transportation method for students, who have garnered over 500,000 miles of bike rides using the app.
At the press conference, Commissioner Mapps also debuted the new Biketown station made with 25% of Nike Grind rubber from the footwear company’s manufacturing scraps.
There are over 180 Biketown stations across the city of Portland.