Hoping to increase civic participation and reduce barriers to voting, local bike-sharing nonprofit Nice Ride Minnesota announced Monday that it will allow Twin Cities residents to use its dockless bikes for free on Election Day next week.
On Tuesday, Nov. 6, riders can unlock a pass for free, valid for 30-minute trips on any of the nearly 1,200 blue bikes with the code BIKETOVOTE in the Nice Ride app.
"Lack of transportation options has been shown to be a major barrier to voting nationwide," Nice Ride General Manager Melissa Summers said in a statement. "We encourage everyone to take advantage of the free day pass on Nov. 6, incorporate bike share into their voting plan, and pedal to the polls as they fulfill their civic duty."
Nice Ride rolled out its fleet of blue dockless bikes in Minneapolis in mid-September. The organization had been planning its dockless debut for more than a year. Nice Ride worked with the City of Minneapolis and Motivate, a New York-based bike-share operator, to develop plans for the city's first 1,200 dockless bikes.
Dockless bikes are equipped with GPS technology that does not require them to be parked at traditional bike-sharing stations. Because of this, these bikes are less expensive to maintain than the docked variety, which Nice Ride has been operating since its launch in 2010.
To manage its new fleet of blue bikes, Nice Ride is employing a "virtual parking hub" system – a notably different take on bike sharing. Riders must pick up and drop off the dockless bikes at these hubs, which look like parking spaces for bikes. Their locations can be found using Nice Ride's app.
Bikes must be left at these stations. Violators will be charged $5 and repeat offenders run the risk of getting kicked off the platform. Riders can request a virtual parking zone in their neighborhood by filling out a form on Nice Ride’s site.
Nice Ride also announced Monday that it will continue to provide bike share on its new blue dockless bikes in Minneapolis until Nov. 16 – later in the season than in previous years.
Nice Ride will continue to build out its dockless system in coming years, adding more hubs and an additional 1,500 dockless bikes in 2019, with hopes to add 1,500 each year thereafter until 2021.
