CoGo Bike Share is a public bicycle sharing system serving

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

and its suburbs. The service is operated by the bikeshare company

Motivate Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

(part of

Lyft, Inc. Lyft, Inc. offers mobility as a service, Ridesharing company, ride-hailing, vehicles for hire, motorized scooters, a bicycle-sharing system, rental cars, and food delivery in the United States and select cities in Canada. Lyft sets fares, which ...

) It was created in July 2013 with 300 bikes and 30 docking stations, since expanded to about 600 bikes and 80 stations. The service is operated in conjunction with the City of Columbus, which owns all equipment.

History

CoGo Bike Share was launched on July 30, 2013 in Columbus. It opened with 300 bikes and 30 docking stations in downtown and surrounding areas, operated by Alta Bicycle Share (since rebranded as

). The bikes and stations were designed and constructed by

PBSC Urban Solutions PBSC Urban Solutions, formerly the Public Bike System Company, is an international bicycle-sharing system equipment vendor with their headquarters based in Longueuil, Quebec. The company develops bicycle-sharing systems, equipment, parts, and s ...

. The network's original boundaries were Second Avenue north of downtown, Parsons Avenue east of downtown, south to German Village, and west to Route 315. The City of Columbus provided a subsidy for CoGo's first year with an initial $2.3 million investment in equipment, though afterward the program became self-sustaining. In 2015, the city purchased 110 bikes and 11 stations to expand to the Near East Side, Weinland Park, and the southern end of the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

campus. In 2015, Ohio State University launched a 115-bicycle, 15-station system on its campus. The university decided not to integrate with the city's CoGo system, instead utilizing

Zagster Zagster (est. in 2007) was a venture-funded startup company based in Boston, Massachusetts that designed, built and operated bike sharing programs for cities, universities, corporate campuses, hotels, and residential communities across the Uni ...

to operate its system. The city had desired a unified system, though the university preferred Zagster's cost and variety of bike models. The program would include commuter, tandem, handle cycle, electric assist, heavy duty, and three-wheeled cargo bicycles as part of its system. In 2016, the system became the second in the United States to utilize

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app payments. After a pilot in Aspen, Colorado, Transit began offering its payment system to CoGo, allowing riders to unlock bikes using their smartphones. In late 2019, after CoGo's operator was purchased by Lyft, the latter company announced it was revoking use of the Transit app, forcing users to utilize its Lyft app to unlock bikes on smartphones.

Company

The service is operated by the bikeshare company

, part of

since 2018.

Bikes

CoGo maintains approximately 600 bicycles across the city. The City of Columbus owns all equipment, contracting the operations to Lyft.

E-bike An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist ...

s were added to the system in June 2020.

Payment

The bikes are available for short term rental, using a credit card or member key fob. Additionally, the Lyft app allows users to unlock bikes with their smartphones. The payment system is broken down into several options: *Single fare: $2 per ride (up to 30 minutes). E-bikes have a $.15 additional fee per minute. *Day pass: single $8 charge. E-bikes have a $.15 additional fee per minute. *Annual membership: $75 per year for unlimited 45-minute rides. E-bikes have a $.10 additional fee per minute. *CoGo for All: $5 annual membership for unlimited 45-minute rides. E-bikes have a $.05 additional fee per minute (program requires

SNAP benefits In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people. It is a federal aid program, ad ...

or discounted utility payments). *Note: parking e-bikes in public bike racks (as opposed to a docking station) carries a $1 fee.

History

Company

Bikes

Payment

See also