News from Denver Bike Sharing
August 10, 2020
Hi Denver Bike Sharing family!
Many of you have asked what we have been doing over the last months and the future of Denver Bike Sharing. As you may know, the City of Denver and DOTI asked for program submissions to be their micro-mobility contractor in March. We participated, submitted our proposal on April 30, 2020 and last week we were notified we were not selected.
Our goal was to continue a non-profit led, local, community based system with a product vendor with our same values that would allow us to expand and grow. We could not talk about our program at the time but here was our vision:
- We’d selected a new vendor partner, Veo, a female led micro-mobility company. An independently profitable company, (not a VC backed) with great products and technology. They are very selective about the markets they enter to ensure profitability.
- We love Veo’s diverse product mix. Our bid included continuing a pedal bike program, adding e-bikes and two forms of scooters (stand up and sit down for users with limited mobility) and an adaptive hand cycle. Their products and components have between a 12 to 36 month lifespan.
- Veo has a successful track record of gender equity and diverse hiring and is the only micro-mobility company that is a member of the Nat’l Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
- DBS and Veo committed to hiring all w2 employees, no 1099’s. DBS has always had w2 employees, we convinced Veo to do the same in Denver.
- We brought our community with us:
- A $240,000 DRCOG grant for education and safety messaging.
- A partnership with Denver Housing Authority to have locations and programming starting at multiple housing sites.
- Trade advertising partnership with transit and tourism agencies of over $300,000.
- Support from Bicycle Colorado, RTD, NETC, VISIT DENVER, Gates Foundation, The Denver Broncos and other partners.
- Support from our long list of community sponsors
- A new Equity and Diversity Advisory Board to guide successful program expansion and activation in opportunity neighborhoods.
- An adaptive bike share program.
- Pedal bike minimum age limit reduced from 16 to 13 so we could partner with programs like Safe Routes to Schools.
- Geo fenced station based system for the pedal bikes and incentives for the e-products so as to have an organized right of way and allow us to have hundreds of stations in current and new neighborhoods.
We are very very proud of the bid we put forth.
Couple of closing notes about Denver B-cycle. Some have asked what did we do with the bikes? We re-purposed them all. We sold some to other B-cycle cities that are expanding and we donated 350 bikes to NETC to support their neighborhood bike libraries. So you will still see them tooling around and hopefully that makes you smile as much as it does us.
We also want you to know that DBS will not be sharing any of your data with the newly selected city vendors. We gave you our word when you joined us and we will honor it.
The DBS office will officially close on August 31st. We are planning a big garage sale in our space on August 14 and 15 to liquidate our equipment – tools, benches, bike stands, industrial shelves etc and office equipment – desks, shelves, filing cabinets in case you are interested. The sale will start at 9:00 am and end at 3:00 PM each day. Masks are required and only three people will be allowed at a time. Cash or PayPal only.
We mostly want to thank you. We could not be more proud to have served you and our city for the last 10 years. Denver was a leader – part of something special & visionary – and was the forerunner of bike sharing. We said in 2010 and we will continue to say it – it was a “two-wheeled revolution”.
We, the DBS team, are grateful to have been a part of it. Part of being local means we were able to develop relationships with all of you over the years – we thank you for your calls (the good and the bad!) for your support and most importantly for riding.
Ride on.
The DBS Team
About Denver Bike Sharing
Denver Bike Sharing is a charitable, non-profit organization. Denver Bike Sharing serves as a catalyst for a fundamental transformation in thinking and behavior by operating a bike sharing system in Denver to enhance mobility while promoting all aspects of sustainability: quality of life, equity, the environment, economic development, and public health.
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