Indego is gearing up for its 2024 expansion. Read on to review highlights from the 2023 expansion, get the scoop on next year’s plans, and stay updated on current and upcoming projects with the Office of Complete Streets.
Catching Up
Since our last expansion update in March 2023, Indego has added 41 new stations, 833 new docking points, and 350 new electric bikes to the fleet (500 total since the start of 2023.) We grew the service area into Manayunk and along Kelly Drive, added more stations in West Philly and up North Broad Street, and increased capacity citywide, including Fishtown, South Philly, and Allegheny.
Gwen McCauley, Executive Director of the Manayunk Development Corporation shared the following:
As an update to our recent installations and the arrival of Indego bike stations this spring, Manayunk is pleased to see an increase in biking activity and new visitors to Main Street and our section of the Schuylkill River Trail. Local residents are excited to finally have access to Indego bikes in their own backyard and customers near Center City can easily take a day trip to Manayunk by utilizing the trails and exploring all that our community has to offer with the ease of knowing there are stations to safely return their bikes. We are happy with the success of our current stations and look forward to the coordinated placement of additional stations to support our ridership. Thanks for coming to Manayunk!”
Indego continues to uphold its commitment to serving Black and historically underserved communities and has been actively installing stations in marginalized neighborhoods. To do this, Indego’s Community Engagement team has worked closely with different community stakeholders to help with station planning and implementation. We also received 370 new responses from our suggest-a-station form since March 1st, which has helped to guide our expansion planning for 2024.
What’s Next
In 2024, Indego will add 1,000 new docking points, partitioned into 45-50 stations, and an additional 650 Indego electric bikes to the system. Additional classic bikes will be deployed, when possible, to ensure that a core fleet of classic bikes remains available to Indego Passholders.
Starting in mid-January and through the rest of 2024, we will focus on adding stations in the following five new expansion zones: Mill Creek/Parkside, Kingsessing, Kensington/Richmond, Wynnefield/Overbrook, and Upper East Falls.
In addition to these five areas, Indego will add infill capacity throughout the existing system, prioritizing areas that do not have service within a 1000-foot radius, equity areas, and the most highly utilized sections of the system such as Center City and University City.
At the conclusion of the 2024 expansion, the Indego bike share system will service Philadelphia with more than 5,750 docks and a fleet of nearly 3,000 bikes. This is one part of a larger, multi-year expansion plan in which the size of the system will double and Indego will reach more communities within South, West, North, and Northwest Philadelphia.
Upcoming Office of Complete Streets Safety Projects
There are several City Complete Streets safety projects underway in Indego’s current service area and 2024 expansion areas. These projects are aligned with Indego’s expansion plans and aim to provide safe access to Philadelphia streets for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders, regardless of age and physical ability.
In West Philadelphia, the Walnut Street Repaving & Complete Streets Safety Project is currently under construction from 33rd to 63rd Street, featuring a new parking-separated bike lane layout, and is expected to be completed later this year. In 2024, the Streets Department will add concrete pedestrian islands at 18 intersections along Chestnut Street from 63rd Street to 34th Street in West Philadelphia to enhance safety along the corridor.
Additionally, several projects in the planning phase include the Mantua Traffic Safety Project in Mantua, the Springfield Avenue and 57th Street Great Streets Projects, in Kingsessing and Wynnefield, respectively, and the Lehigh Avenue Safety Project in Kensington.
For more information on those projects, visit the links provided or reach out to otis@phila.gov.
Stay in the Know with Indego!
Indego is extremely excited to grow in 2024 and reach new neighborhoods and riders in Philadelphia! Thank you to everyone who submitted a station suggestion and to all the community partners who worked with us this year to bring these stations to their neighborhoods. To stay connected, follow @RideIndego on social media and subscribe to our monthly newsletter at rideindego.com/subscribe/.
Bicycle Transit Systems is a Philadelphia-based business that specializes in bike share launch, operations, and management. Comprised of the most experienced bike share operations team in the industry, Bicycle Transit Systems manages all operational elements of Indego, including bike and station maintenance, marketing, and customer service.
Are there any expansion plans for the Northeast? It’s so car-dependent and building up stations around Pennypack Park and the Pennypack Trail can help begin the push for more bike riding.
Thanks! Really hoping for some infill in Point Breeze, especially the first 4-5 blocks south of Washington!
I’d love this as well.
Nice to see geographic expansion.
I would ask the emphasis be placed on the classic bikes which have better “cargo” carrying capacity making it easier to use them for errands.
Further the “electric bike” penalty to pass users, who don’t perhaps wish to (or need to) use an electric bike, needs to be addressed. It is discrimination to force pass riders to pay additional fees when only electric bikes are available at a station.
This morning, I had to walk from 30th St. Station. No bikes at all at 30-Market, three electric bikes at 29-Schuylkill, 22-Market was out of service, 20-Market had no bikes, and by the time I’m at 19-Market, it doesn’t makes sense to find a bike for the remainder of the trip.
I don’t get a refund for not being able to commute by bike, yet I have to pay a penalty if I choose an electric bike? Not much equity there in how shortcomings of bike availability are graciously handled for pass riders.
Any plans to ever fill the Brewerytown donut-hole (Girard Ave between 19th and 31st)?
I would like to 2nd the point about classic bikes. We need more of these. I am an annual pass holder and don’t like being penalized when there is no choice but to take an electric bike.