Shared Micromobility Overview
In 2024, BIKETOWN saw a 15% decrease in ridership compared to 2023, where e-scooters saw a 7.6% increase in ridership year over year. Overall, users took 1.8 million trips on shared bikes and e-scooters in 2024, a 0.4% decrease compared to the year prior. Find more data about both systems on PBOT’s interactive micromobility dashboard. These snapshots provide an overview of program changes throughout the year including fleet sizes and number of BIKETOWN stations.
Shared micromobility refers to lightweight vehicles available for public use. In Portland, this refers to the BIKETOWN bike-share and e-scooter programs. Launched in July 2016, BIKETOWN is PBOT’s bike-share program. After extensive community engagement, PBOT opened Adaptive BIKETOWN in 2017 to serve people with disabilities and others unable or uncomfortable riding a conventional two-wheeled bicycle. In 2024, PBOT launched its first permanent e-scooter program contracting with BIKETOWN (Lyft) and Lime after piloting the program since 2018.
A major difference between the shared bike and scooter systems is their reach. With the launch of the city’s permanent e-scooter program in summer 2024, e-scooters operated citywide (145 square miles) with two companies—Lime and Lyft (BIKETOWN)—providing about 3,500 electric scooters between them. In contrast, BIKETOWN bikes can only be operated within a defined geographic boundary. When the bike system launched in 2016, this covered 8 square miles in the central city with 1,000 bikes. As of the end of 2024, BIKETOWN covered 45 square miles with over 230 stations and a 2,400 all e-bike fleet. Importantly, much of Southwest and parts of Southeast and East Portland are not included in the current bike-share service area.
PBOT pursued grant funding in 2024 to pilot e-mobility hubs. These hubs are places in a transportation network where people can access and make convenient connections between multiple services and travel options. The team was successfully awarded a $200,000 ODOT Innovative Mobility Program grantfor policy development for curbside micromobility charging and a $2 million Joint Office Communities Taking Charge grant to pilot e-mobility hubs. Note: the Joint Office grant award is currently paused due to federal executive orders.
NIKE is BIKETOWN’s founding program partner and title sponsor. BIKETOWN for All is funded by the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF). PBOT contracts with Lyft to operate BIKETOWN and with Albertina Kerr to operate Adaptive BIKETOWN.
BIKETOWN by the Numbers
- Number of bikes: 2,400 e-bikes
- Service Area: 45 square miles (expanded 4 square miles in 2024 into Sellwood!)
- Total Stations: 248
- New Stations in 2024: 12
- System trips in 2024: 550,100*
- All-time system trips (since July 2016): 3,439,400*
- Total equity users (BIKETOWN for All): 2,488*
- BIKETOWN for All trips in 2024: 296,000*
(*Approximate numbers)
BIKETOWN Program Updates & Trends in 2024
- BIKETOWN’s e-bike fleet increased from 2,000 to 2,400 e-bikes, 400 of which are a new e-bike model (Cosmo) that is more resistant to theft
- BIKETOWN service area increased by four square miles to include Sellwood
- BIKETOWN ridership decreased by 15% compared to 2023
- Total equity user (BIKETOWN for All) ridership decreased by 21%
- Program eligibility changes implemented in BIKETOWN for All limiting participants to income-qualified programs
- BIKETOWN for All and Adaptive BIKETOWN secured funding from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) to 2028
- Prescribe a Bike PDX pilot continues through Multnomah County REACH Diabetes Prevention Program as well as high school programing through Safe Routes to School for Transportation Academy and BIKETOWN Ambassadors
- Awarded a $200,000 ODOT Innovative Mobility Program grant for policy development for curbside micromobility charging
- Awarded a $2 million Joint Office Communities Taking Charge grant to pilot e-mobility hubs
- Installation of 12 new stations:
- SE Division Street at 127th Avenue
- SE 12th Avenue at Powell Boulevard
- N Lombard Street at Charleston Avenue
- SE 16th Avenue at Center Street
- SE 42nd Avenue at Powell Boulevard
- N Lombard Street at Greeley Avenue
- N Burr Avenue at Lombard Street
- SE Bybee Boulevard at 23rd Avenue
- SE Clatsop Street at 17th Avenue
- N Lombard Street at Oatman Avenue
- SE Spokane Street at Oaks Park Way
- SE Milwaukie Avenue at Bybee Boulevard
BIKETOWN 2024 Ridership
BIKETOWN riders took over 550,000 trips in 2024. Although total rides decreased for BIKETOWN, the median trip duration was very similar to 2023 at 9.5 minutes long. Most riders can get from the Moda Center to Powell's Books downtown in less than 10 minutes on BIKETOWN.
Trip Starts Heat Map
Below are the trip start heat maps for 2023 and 2024. On the left is 2023, the right showing 2024.
Some notable takeaways include:
- More ridership in Sellwood in 2024, showing the impact of the service area expansion
- More ridership in Parkrose in 2024
- A clear concentration of ridership near Cathedral Park
- Clear hot spots and an increase in ridership near popular MAX Stations
Trips by Date
Trips peaked during the summer months on both BIKETOWN and e-scooters, but people still use BIKETOWN year-round to get around Portland. The year’s highest ridership day was an early summer Saturday in June, closely followed by a warm spring day in March.
BIKETOWN 2023 Trip Distances
The median trip distance for BIKETOWN was approximately 1.28 miles, with about 60% of trips over 1 mile long. The median distance in 2024 was almost the exact same as in 2023’s. BIKETOWN riders are consistent!
BIKETOWN in the Community
BIKETOWN supported over 30 events in 2024, mostly focused on sign-up support and group rides for BIKETOWN for All. BIKETOWN showed up for the community at least four events during each summer month! BIKETOWN also partnered with five organizations with a Train the Trainer model to register folks in their community for BIKETOWN for All.
Support for the community included bike drop-offs for community rides, providing promotional codes, leading group rides, handing out over 200 free helmets to BIKETOWN for All members, and setting up pop-ups to connect people to Adaptive BIKETOWN or to help folks sign up for BIKETOWN for All in person.
The 2024 outreach team focused their work on PBOT programming, including Sunday Parkways, disability community resource fairs for Adaptive BIKETOWN, Bike Fairs, High School Transportation Academy, Multnomah County REACH group rides, Community Cycling Center led events, and Parkrose Pedal.
If you are interested in our full list of partners or you would like to join that list, please email sharedmicromobility@portlandoregon.gov.
Adaptive BIKETOWN
Adaptive BIKETOWN is BIKETOWN’s adaptive bike rental program, operated by Albertina Kerr/Kerr Bikes. The program’s goal is to increase access to cycling for people with disabilities. Offering hand-powered, foot-powered, multi-person adaptive bikes and adaptive e-bikes, Adaptive BIKETOWN’s shop is open and staffed from March through October. Community members may also arrange to rent adaptive bicycles during Portland’s cooler and wetter months. For the most up-to-date hours, visit the Adaptive BIKETOWN website.
Adaptive BIKETOWN had an amazing 2024! With qualifying participants continuing to receive free one-hour rentals, we were able to get more folks on adaptive cycles than ever before, growing from 391 to 443 rentals last year.
PBOT staff attended three Sunday Parkways events including an Adaptive-led group ride in the Cully neighborhood. Adaptive BIKETOWN, Shriners Hospital for Children and Adaptive Sports Northwest came together at the June Sunday Parkways for a massive adaptive group ride. Shriners Hospital for Children hosted an adaptive clinic at the corner of NE 37th Avenue and Ainsworth Street, where both Adaptive BIKETOWN and Adaptive Sports Northwest had a fleet of adaptive bikes to try. We also reached more Albertina Kerr clients through the Kerr Fun Zone events. To close out wins for 2024, we are excited to announce that the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) will be supporting Adaptive BIKETOWN through 2029. This program is one of many initiatives under the Climate Investment Plan, PCEF’s five-year roadmap to guide investment in community-led projects that reduce climate emissions and cultivate shared prosperity.
In 2025, our existing contract will expire and we will be restarting with a new Request for Proposals. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.
We continued with new editions of the Adaptive BIKETOWN newsletter which covers more Adaptive news in detail for 2024.
BIKETOWN for All
BIKETOWN for All offers an affordable, accessible, and fun transportation option for everyone, regardless of income. Our equity program allows those who qualify for certain state or federal assistance programs to sign up and receive a discounted BIKETOWN membership. BIKETOWN for All is led by PBOT in partnership with Nike and Lyft and in 2024, also received PCEF dollars to continue its mission to bring e-bikes to more people.
This year 2,488 BIKETOWN for All members enrolled in the program taking a total of 296,000 trips! In receiving PCEF dollars, we also had to make some changes to the BiKETOWN for All program in June 2024 to become more financially sustainable. The change was made in response to rising costs that threatened the financial stability of the program, which had grown from 169 users in 2020 to 4,270 users when the change was implemented. These changes to the program likely led to the 21% decrease for BIKETOWN for All trips in 2024 compared to 2023 as all trips in the system had a 15% decrease overall in 2024 compared to 2023. However, in both 2023 and 2024, BIKETOWN for All trips still made up over 50% of all trips in the system.
Looking Forward to 2025
In 2024 BIKETOWN continued to struggle with theft and loss of vehicles. There are promising signs of improvement for 2025 including: the new generation of BIKETOWN bikes which are more theft resistant, a 311 compliance dashboard for scooters (launched in 2025), and funding allocated to the future of charging stations.
We are excited to continue working closely with the BIKETOWN team, Lyft, Lime, and all our community partners to increase ridership. Some other focus areas in 2025 include:
- Partnering with community to bring BIKETOWN to events to introduce more riders to the program.
- Help reduce theft and loss of shared micromobility vehicles (i.e., e-bikes and e-scooters).
- Install more BIKETOWN stations throughout the service area with a focus on areas with less station density.
- Continue the Adaptive BIKETOWN program with a new contract.
- Begin long-term planning project for the future of shared micromobility in Portland.