Motivate (company)

Motivate (formerly Alta Bicycle Share and also known as Motivate International Inc.) is a company based in New York City that operates bicycle sharing systems in the United States. The systems provide a flexible method for completing short trips, as contrasted with the longer rentals offered by traditional bike rental companies. In July 2018 the company was acquired by Lyft.[3]

Motivate International Inc.

Formerly	Alta Bicycle Share[1]
Type	Subsidiary
Headquarters	New York, NY , United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Matthew Parker (CEO)
Services	Bicycle-sharing system operator
Number of employees	700+[2] (2017)
Parent	Lyft
Website	motivateco.com

History

Alta Bicycle Share was formed in 2010.[4]

Motivate was listed in Fast Company's "World's Most Innovative Companies" for 2014 under its previous name.[5]

In October 2014, it was announced that the company had been acquired by Bikeshare Holdings LLC and would be relocating headquarters from Portland, Oregon to New York City under the leadership of Jay Walder.[6][7][8][9][10] Subsequently, Motivate announced its acquisition of 8D Technologies, the technology provider for a number of the systems it already operated, in February 2017.[11] In July 2018, Lyft announced that it would acquire Motivate and continue to operate it as a standalone business.[12][13]

Currently operating systems

Motivate currently operates seven systems in public-private partnerships with local governments:

• Bay Wheels, in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, with bike stations in downtown San Francisco, San Jose, and East Bay, California.[14]
• Biketown PDX in Portland, Oregon began operating in July 2016.[15]
• Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C. with service to Washington, D.C., Arlington, VA, Alexandria, VA, Fairfax County, Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland[16][17]
• Citi Bike in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Jersey City, New Jersey [18]
• CoGo in Columbus, OH from Ohio State University to Schiller Park in German Village (and a separate system at Easton Town Center)[19]
• Divvy in Chicago[20]
• Bluebikes in the metro-Boston area (Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, and Somerville).[21]
• Nice Ride Minnesota in Minneapolis and St Paul transitioned to Motivate operation in July 2018.[22][23]

Discontinued systems

• Bike Share Toronto in Toronto,[24][25]
• Melbourne Bike Share in Melbourne, Australia,[26] sold the system to RACV.
• Pronto Cycle Share in Seattle, Washington
• Bike Chattanooga in Chattanooga, TN

Systems suppliers

Motivate-operated systems have used multiple suppliers for bikes, stations, kiosks, and technology across each city including 8D Technologies and Montreal-based PBSC Urban Solutions[27][28] for equipment and technology and Cycles Devinci and Arcade Cycles for bicycles.

See also

• List of bicycle sharing systems
• Utility cycling – Short-term hire schemes

References

1. "Company that owns Divvy changes corporate name to Motivate". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. January 13, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
2. Bensinger, Greg (July 2, 2018). "Lyft Follows Uber by Acquiring Bike-Sharing Startup Motivate". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 28, 2019.(subscription required)
3. O'Kane, Sean (July 2, 2018). "Lyft buys the biggest bike-sharing company in the US". The Verge. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
4. Coster, Helen (June 8, 2011). "Beating A New Path For Commuters". Forbes. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
5. ""Most Innovative Companies for 2014"". Fast Company. February 10, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
6. Chabán, Matt V. (October 28, 2014). "New Leader Will Drive Expansion of Citi Bike". The New York Times.
7. Rose, Joseph (October 28, 2014). "Portland's Alta Bicycle Share sold. What does it mean for city's delayed bike share launch?". Oregon Live.
8. Hilkevitch, Jon (October 28, 2014). "Company that operates Divvy bike-share program being sold". Chicago Tribune.
9. Vaccaro, Adam (October 28, 2014). "Company Behind Hubway Bike Share Bought Out". Boston Globe.
10. Rouan, Rick (November 3, 2014). "Transportation Insider: CoGo expected to grow despite purchase". Columbus Dispatch.
11. "World leaders in bike share Motivate and 8D Technologies merge". Cycling Industry News. February 10, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
12. "Bike Share Leader Motivate Announces Transformative Agreement with Lyft to Advance the Future of Urban Transportation" (Press release). Motivate. July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
13. Lyft (July 2, 2018). "Introducing Lyft Bikes". Retrieved July 2, 2018.
14. "The Bay Area's bike share program - Ford GoBike". Ford GoBike.
15. Njus, Elliot (August 26, 2016). "136,000 miles in, Biketown bike-share makes its mark on Portland". The Oregonian. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
16. "Capital Bikeshare". October 30, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
17. Johnston, Kristine (April 7, 2014). "Beyond Urban Planning: The Economics of Capital Bikeshare". Georgetown Public Policy Review. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
18. "Citi Bike". Retrieved November 18, 2015.
19. "CoGo Bike Share: Columbus, OH's Bike Share Program - CoGo Bike Share". CoGo Bike Share.
20. "Divvy | Chicago". Retrieved November 18, 2015.
21. "Blue Bikes: Metro-Boston's Bike share Program - Blue Bikes Boston". Blue Bikes Boston.
22. "Nice Ride MN - Nice Ride Minnesota Chooses Motivate". www.niceridemn.org.
23. "Nice Ride MN - New Era for Nice Ride Minnesota". www.niceridemn.org.
24. "Home - Bike Share Toronto". Bike Share Toronto.
25. "Motivate and Toronto Parking Authority Announce Transition of Bike Share Toronto Operations — Motivate".
26. "Melbourne Bike Share". March 25, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
27. "Statement on Our Supplier PBSC". Motivate. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
28. "Alta Bicycle Share's Statement on PBSC Sale". Motivate. Retrieved February 23, 2020.

External links

• Official website