E-bikes coming to Eugene bike share

Eugene’s bike share program is getting a makeover. 

Brodie Hylton, executive director of Cascadia Mobility, the nonprofit that operates Eugene’s bike share program, PeaceHealth Rides, said program partners are securing funds to launch its next generation in 2028. They plan to replace the current fleet with between 400 and 500 new bicycles, likely a 50-50 split of pedal bicycles and e-bicycles.

Cascadia Mobility runs PeaceHealth Rides in partnership with the city of Eugene, University of Oregon and Lane Transit District. The program launched in 2018 and last year reported record ridership — more than 275,000 trips across Eugene and Springfield and 10,000 new members.

The new e-bikes will have max speeds of 15 to 20 mph, depending on geography, Hylton said. 

“Right now, it’s about securing as many dollars as we can to launch a phase one program, and that’ll probably look like a program that’s an equivalent in terms of fleet size as we have today,” Hylton told Lookout Eugene-Springfield. 

The long-term goal is to expand and seamlessly integrate bike share with public transit in Eugene and Springfield. 

The planning effort behind that goal is called the “Eugene-Springfield Shared Mobility Program: Version 2.0.” A work group including LTD, the cities of Eugene and Springfield, UO, the Lane Council of Governments, the Eugene Water & Electric Board and Cascadia Mobility are supporting the regional project, which is being led by a transportation planning firm.

Partners hope to eventually combine the fare system for buses and bike share through the launch of one, integrated platform, Hylton said. 

“At a minimum out of the gate, I hope we’re working toward an LTD-branded system, so at least to start, people are making this logical association that the bike share program or the shared micromobility program is an integrated component of our public transit network,” Hylton said. 

There is a small chance existing PeaceHealth Rides pedal bikes could be retrofitted to function on this new platform, but Hylton said it is more likely they will need to be replaced. About 450 pedal bicycles make up the current fleet. 

Hylton said there is still “a lot up in the air” with the project. Partners have secured about $2.4 million to put toward capital equipment, and will soon pursue a grant opportunity that could give them another $2 million to $3 million, he said. 

“If we can compile about $5 million in capital, we think that that gives us a really good start,” he said.

The bike share program will then have to develop a request for proposals, seek a new equipment vendor, produce and ship the new equipment, and deploy it to the streets of Eugene. The contract for PeaceHealth Rides could be transferred to another regional entity like LTD or the Lane Council of Governments instead of the city, Hylton said.

He said partners hope to relaunch the program by spring 2028.

Other electrified transportation devices, like scooters, are on the table, too, Hylton said. The city’s nine-month e-scooter pilot program, discontinued in 2023, increased overall shared mobility ridership “dramatically,” Hylton said. 

“We recognize that some people just might never want to pedal a bike, but they might stand on an e-scooter or they might sit on what we might call a pedalless e-bike,” he said. 

PeaceHealth Rides 2.0 could also see an expanded service area. The program currently offers more than 160 hubs where riders can drop off and pick up bikes, the majority of which are in Eugene and a handful in Springfield. 

“I think everybody wants this program to continue and to expand or to be replaced with better equipment and more bikes and more service area and integration with public transportation,” Hylton said.