Blue Bikes introduces the new e-bike.
The city’s Blue Bikes bicycle sharing system has begun an expansion that will include more Uptown neighborhoods. In the coming months, the Blue Bikes service area will expand to more parts of the city, including Central City, Gert Town, Carrollton, Broadmoor, Riverbend and Uptown.
Blue Bikes are currently in the Garden District, Lower Garden District and Central City and a handful of other Uptown locations: the Tulane campus, Touro area, Napoleon and Magazine, and Hoffman Triangle.
Uptown Blue Bike stations are concentrated in the Garden District and Central City. (bluebikesnola.com)
These new locations will have a new fleet of e-bikes, scheduled to hit the streets starting Thursday (Feb. 6).
Riders can use the new Jump mobile app or rent bikes directly through the Uber app, since Blue Bikes and Jump joined the Uber family last year. Riders with an existing Uber account can log-in to one of the apps or create a new account after downloading the Jump or Uber app.
The e-bikes are an investment in expanding access to Blue Bikes across the city, a Blue Bikes press release states. With the electric pedal-assist, Jump has seen e-bikes generate more usage than pedal-only bike-share programs, with e-bike trips averaging longer than pedal-only trips.
The e-assist provides a boost every time you pedal, making biking more accessible to a wider range of people with different abilities and ages, while also helping people bike longer distances.
E-bike prices in the Blue Bikes for All program for low-income riders will remain the same. For $20 per year, riders in this program receive 60 minutes of ride-time per day with 10¢ a minute after the initial hour.
Prices are going up for other riders. Regular riders will pay $30 a month for 60 minutes of ride-time per day. For riders who prefer a pay-as-you-go option, the price will be 25¢ a minute with n0 sign-up fee. More details on the plans are available here.
