Get your gears ready, there’s a new bike share system coming to town!
Just this week, Mayor Michael Nutter and Independence Blue Cross President and CEO Daniel J. Hilferty announced the official name and corporate sponsor of Philadelphia’s new bike share program: Indego, brought to you by Independence Blue Cross.
The new system – scheduled to launch in late spring 2015 with over 60 docking stations and 600 easy to ride and professionally maintained bikes – will allow users to check out a bike, ride it, and return it to any station in the Indego system. It will serve an area that stretches from the Delaware River into West Philadelphia and from South Philadelphia to North Philadelphia and Temple University’s main campus.
Bike share systems have been extremely successful in over 40 cities in the US and 800 cities around the world, including in Boston, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Paris, London, Berlin, and Taipei, just to name a few.
“Bike share is a must have for thriving cities. The Indego system will provide yet another way for Philadelphians, commuters, and visitors to get around our great city. I am delighted that we have a strong community leader and active partner for this system in Dan Hilferty and Independence Blue Cross. From the first time we spoke about this opportunity, Dan understood the power of offering a new transportation system that provides an affordable, healthy, and convenient option to travel in Philadelphia. This sponsorship puts the system on strong financial footing and poised for growth,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter.
“Independence’s sponsorship of Indego is a natural extension of our commitment to the health and well-being of the people and communities we serve,” said Daniel J. Hilferty, Independence’s president and CEO. “We’re thrilled to be part of this exciting effort that helps residents and visitors alike experience our world class city through a world class transportation system.”
The bikes and docking stations will provide a new transit system available 24 hours a day, seven days a week that makes it easy to take short trips from station to station. Over time the system is expected to grow to 1,800 bikes and 180 stations.
Detailed pricing will be announced in March, however Philadelphia is proud to announce that Indego will be the first large system in North America to offer a low-cost 30 day membership that will renew automatically and can be cancelled at anytime; a pay-as-you-ride membership, where you pay for only the rides you take; 60 minutes of ride time before incurring additional fees (other systems offer 30 or 40 minutes); and a cash payment option for 30 day memberships.
Oh and get this, Independence Blue Cross members will receive ride discounts when using the bike share system.
Maps of the bike share station locations chosen as a part of this community input process are being finalized and will be released shortly.
For more information on the new system, visit www.RideIndego.com.
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