Bike Share Leader Motivate Announces Transformative Agreement with Lyft to Advance the Future of Urban Transportation
Below is an article originally written by PowerToFly Partner Motivate, and published on July 2, 2018. Go to Motivate's page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.
Acquisition will put bike share systems around the country on a path toward rapid growth and innovation
Lyft to acquire Motivate technology platform and corporate functions; Motivate to maintain system-level operations and customer service
Today, Motivate announced that it has entered into a transformative agreement with Lyft. Together, Lyft and Motivate will collaborate with cities to grow and improve transportation and further Motivate's mission: to get more people riding bikes.
As part of the agreement, Lyft will acquire Motivate's technological capabilities and corporate functions. Motivate will continue to focus on its core operational and customer service offerings, prioritizing safety, rideability, and a best-in-class customer experience. Motivate will provide these services to Lyft, which will invest additional resources in technology and innovation and shape the future of bike share in partnership with cities.
Lyft announced this exciting partnership in a blog post on its website, which is included below:
We are excited to announce that Lyft has reached a transformative agreement to acquire Motivate, the largest bikeshare operator in North America. Together Lyft and Motivate will revolutionize urban transportation and put bikeshare systems across the country on a path toward growth and innovation.
"Lyft and Motivate have both been committed for years to the same goal of reducing the need for personal car ownership by providing reliable and affordable ways to move around our cities," said John Zimmer, Lyft co-founder and president. "Bringing together Lyft and Motivate will accelerate our collaboration with cities and deliver even better experiences to our passengers and riders."
This acquisition demonstrates Lyft's commitment to a more sustainable world as part of our Green Cities Initiative, and comes on the heels of our recent carbon neutrality pledge. We will invest to establish bike offerings in our major markets and pursue growth and innovation in the markets where Motivate currently operates. We are particularly excited to work with cities on delivering innovation, including providing dockless and pedal-assist electric bikes to riders around the country, and Lyft will put resources behind the work that the Motivate team has begun.
As part of this agreement, Lyft is acquiring Motivate's technology and corporate functions, including its city contracts. Motivate's bike maintenance and servicing operations will remain a standalone business, retaining the Motivate name, and will continue to support bikeshare systems across North America.
Motivate brings a unique perspective on and expertise in operating bikeshare platforms in partnership with cities and local governments across the country. Motivate's collaborative approach with cities mirrors the way Lyft has historically worked with regulators and aligns with our strategic vision for bikeshare nationwide.
Motivate operates many of the largest bikeshare systems in North America, including Citi Bike (New York), Ford GoBike (San Francisco Bay area), Divvy (Chicago), Blue Bikes (Boston metro area), Capital Bikeshare (Washington, D.C. metro area), BIKETOWN (Portland metro area), CoGo (Columbus, Ohio), and Nice Ride (Minneapolis). In 2017, 80 percent of the bikeshare trips in the United States were on Motivate-operated systems. The demand for bikeshare and the potential to serve even more Americans with this powerful urban transportation option are clear.
"How we get around cities is changing rapidly, and the combination of Lyft and Motivate will bring tremendous new resources and energy to making sure that bikeshare plays a fundamental role in the new urban mobility," said Motivate Executive Chairman Steve Koch. "Together, we believe that integrating our services in partnership with the public sector will transform the urban transportation landscape, increase bike ridership, and make our cities better."
Bikeshare is a natural extension of Lyft's core approach to improving transportation access and building community through offerings such as shared rides and the integration of public transit in our app. These investments are making it possible to have fewer cars on the road and reduced congestion. Through Motivate's efforts, bikeshare has been a safe, reliable, and equitable addition to the transit network in many major cities. Motivate has set industry best practices around community engagement and low-income bikeshare memberships. Transportation equity and inclusion are top priorities for Lyft as we enter the bikeshare space, and we plan to dedicate even more resources to make sure that our bikeshare programs are accessible regardless of riders' income, especially in neighborhoods with limited access to public transportation.
This is an exciting moment for both Lyft and Motivate. Between us, we already serve tens of millions of riders every month, and we can't wait to combine our unique talents to support cities in their efforts to bring sustainable transportation like bikeshare and rideshare to millions more people.
How Motivate Celebrated International Women’s Day
Below is an article originally written by PowerToFly Partner Motivate, and published on March 8, 2017. Go to Motivate's page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.
In honor of International Women's Day, we are celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and urging a more gender equal tomorrow. We'd also like to introduce you to the extraordinary women who lead some of our big city bike share programs across the nation.
Emily Stapleton is the General Manager (GM) of the Bay Area's bike share, soon to be expanded tenfold and launched as Ford GoBike, thanks to our groundbreaking partnership with Ford Motor Company. Before that, she served as the GM of Hubway in Boston. A graduate of Harvard Business School, she comes to Motivate with a wealth of experience in mobility, including peer-to-peer car sharing at Turo, transit at Transport for London and even a stint as the Bikes and Businesses Intern at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. She recently enjoyed some exercise, sweeping views and history on a bike ride along the Bay Trail from Berkeley to the Rosie the Riveter Museum.
Dorothy Mitchell (featured above) is the GM of BIKETOWN, Portland's popular program. Formerly a Strategic Projects Analyst for the Portland Bureau of Transportation and Director of Sales and Marketing for a company specializing in sustainable delivery, Dorothy has been instrumental to the success of BIKETOWN, which has seen nearly 175,000 trips since its launch just seven months ago. Her favorite ride is from her house to the PSU Farmers Market, taking in two of Portland's Willamette River bridges along the way.
Chanel Zeisel, who runs our Citi Bike system in Jersey City, grew up in Honolulu, Hawai'i, where she failed bike education in third grade. Luckily, she rediscovered bikes as an adult while working as a project manager in real estate development in Manhattan. She joined Motivate in 2015 just in time to launch Citi Bike in Jersey City. Chanel's favorite ride is Jersey City's annual free Ward Tour, held the first Sunday in June, which takes hundreds of riders through all six districts in Jersey City in celebration of cycling.
Emily Gates, outgoing General Manager of Hubway in Boston, has been bicycling since she was 2 year old, riding on the back of her dad's road bike in southern Virginia. With Motivate since 2015, she has been a system performance specialist, hardware product manager, general manager and now is moving into a role as the Director of Operations Strategy. A graduate of MIT's Master of Transportation program, her background is in software business analysis, industrial engineering and transportation demand management. Her favorite place to ride is along the Charles River from the Mass Ave bridge to the Museum of Science, especially in the fall when the colors change.
Katie O'Connor is the Deputy General Manager (incoming General Manager) for Motivate's Hubway system in Boston. Prior to joining Motivate, she was a civil engineer and project manager working on environmental clean-up sites across New England for Haley & Aldrich, an engineering consulting firm. She received her Bachelor's degree from Lafayette College in civil/environmental engineering, and a master's degree from MIT in the Systems Design and Management program jointly offered by the engineering school and Sloan. Her favorite rides are along the Charles River and Esplanade, and any trip that involves picking up fresh produce from local farmers' markets.
We are so fortunate that these inspiring women are on our team. We owe our success in large part to their energy and expertise–and to the energy and expertise of the other hardworking women driving our company. And we are committed to empowering women– and all of our employees– to succeed in a number of ways, including creating training programs and opportunities for advancement for entry and mid-level staff. We also offer progressive healthcare and wellness benefits and a generous parental leave plan.
America’s Largest Bike Share Systems Unite with Girl Up to Celebrate Women’s Bike Month and Get More Women Riding
Take A Ride, Give A Ride: Each new rider on seven Motivate bike share systems nationwide gets their first ride free in October; $1 per new rider is donated to Girl Up's SchoolCycle program
Below is an article originally written by PowerToFly Partner Motivate, and published on October 2, 2018. Go to Motivate's page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.
NEW YORK — Motivate, America's largest bike share operator, is launching a new nationwide campaign to shrink the gender gap in cycling and is partnering with Girl Up to help more girls around the world ride towards education and a better future.
Motivate kicked off Women's Bike Month with a group bike ride on October 1st in New York City, led by the Co-Chair of the New York City Council Women's Caucus, Council Member Carlina Rivera. On October 20th, the young leaders of Girl Up chapters in the New York City metropolitan area will come together and lead an additional group bike ride. More events are ongoing in seven Motivate bike share systems across the country. Additionally, for the entire month of October, each new rider in these systems gets their first ride free and $1 per new rider is donated to Girl Up's SchoolCycle program.
"This Women's Bike Month, we celebrate our women riders and recommit ourselves to doing everything we can to close biking's gender gap," said Julie Wood, Motivate Vice President for Communications and External Affairs. "We're working with our bike share systems across the country to promote urban cycling for all and encouraging riders to take a ride and give a ride for a good cause."
"For many girls in countries like Malawi and Guatemala a bike is the difference between staying in school and having to drop out due to distance. We're happy to be partnering with Motivate so riders can help more girls get quickly and safely to school through our SchoolCycle program," said Melissa Kilby, Girl Up Co-Executive Director.
Recognizing the need to draw attention to and shrink the gender gap in cycling, Motivate inaugurated Women's Bike Month in 2016. This year, seven Motivate systems are taking part in the campaign. The bike share networks that will host group rides and events are in New York City (Citi Bike), Jersey City (Citi Bike), Washington D.C (Capital Bikeshare), Chicago (Divvy), the Bay Area (Ford GoBike), Portland (BIKETOWN), Minneapolis (Nice Ride) and Columbus (CoGo).
Motivate is also partnering with global leadership development initiative Girl Up to increase access to bicycles and increase female bike ridership. For every new rider who uses the promo code GIRLUP18 to try bike share for the first time in October, Motivate will donate $1 to the Girl Up SchoolCycle program — which provides bikes to girls to help them access education and stay in school.
As urban biking becomes more prevalent, there still is a marked gender disparity in who rides. Only a quarter of all bike trips in the United States are taken by women. The gap closes slightly when looking at bike share ridership, with one-third of bike share members identifying as female. Still, more must be done to create spaces where women and girls feel comfortable exploring their cities on two wheels.
For more information, visit www.womensbikemonth.com.
Motivate Named One of the Top Ten Most Innovative Companies in Social Good
They want you to join their team!
Below is an article originally written by PowerToFly Partner Motivate. Go Motivate's Page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.
Bike share leader Motivate continues to revolutionize the landscape of cities, making them more accessible, healthier, and sustainableFirst-time honoree Motivate selected alongside Patagonia, Salesforce, and Starbucks
NEW YORK (February 20, 2018) – Today, Fast Company honored Motivate as one of the top ten most innovative companies in social good, as part of the magazine's annual Most Innovative Companies issue. Operating bike share systems across the nation, from New York to the Bay Area, Motivate continues to lead in making bike share a key component of the mobility solutions for modern cities.
In 2018, Motivate continues to develop its technology and operations to further cement itself as the leader in bike share. Motivate is working to expand its Bike Angels program, which incentivizes Citi Bike riders to use their people-power to help rebalance bikes across the system. Motivate also continues to develop new products, with the recent news that Motivate has been selected to transition the Minneapolis bike share system to a dockless network, and its plans to add pedal-assist ebikes to the Ford GoBike system in San Francisco.
"Through our best-in-class bike share operations, Motivate makes commutes shorter, neighborhoods closer, and biking easier. Our mission is to deliver solutions to create healthier, greener, and more accessible cities — and that's why I am so pleased that Fast Company has selected Motivate as one of the most innovative companies in social good. We look forward to delivering additional innovations to our cities and riders in 2018," said Jay Walder, President and CEO of Motivate.
"This year's Most Innovative Companies list is an inspiring and insightful window into how many companies have embraced innovation and are working to make meaningful change," said Fast Company deputy editor David Lidsky.
Fast Company's ranking of the world's 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2018 honors leading enterprises and rising newcomers that exemplify the best in business and innovation across various sectors. Most Innovative Companies is Fast Company's signature franchise and one of its most highly anticipated editorial efforts of the year. It provides both a snapshot and a road map for the future of innovation across the most dynamic sectors of the economy.
Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies issue (March-April 2018) is now available online at www.fastcompany.com/MIC, as well as in app form via iTunes and on newsstands beginning February 27.
