Motivate (company)
Motivate LLC (formerly Alta Bicycle Share and also Motivate International Inc.) is a company based in New York City that services bicycle sharing systems and other urban services in North America.
Formerly | Alta BicycleShare[1] |
---|---|
Type | Private |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Matthew Parker (CEO) |
Services | Bicycle-sharing system and urban service provider |
Revenue | 100 million |
Number of employees | 1500+[2] (2021) |
Parent | Motivate LLC |
Website | motivateco |
The systems provide a flexible method for completing short trips, as contrasted with the longer rentals offered by traditional bike rental companies. In July 2018, a portion of the company was acquired by Lyft, with the service arm portion of the business staying private and renamed Motivate LLC.[3]
History
Alta Bicycle Share was formed in 2010.[4]
Alta was listed in Fast Company's "World's Most Innovative Companies" for 2014 in February 2014.[5]
In October 2014, it was announced that the company had been acquired by Bikeshare Holdings LLC and would be relocating headquarters from Portland, Oregon to New York City under the leadership of Jay Walder.[6][7][8][9][10]
Following the acquisition, Alta rebranded to Motivate on January 14, 2015.[11][12][13]
Subsequently, Motivate announced its acquisition of 8D Technologies, the technology provider for a number of the systems it already operated, in February 2017.[14] In July 2018, Lyft announced that it would acquire Motivate and continue to operate it as a standalone business.[15][16]
Currently operating systems
Motivate currently operates eight systems in public-private partnerships with local governments:
- Bay Wheels, in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, with bike stations in downtown San Francisco, San Jose, and East Bay, California.[17]
- Biketown PDX in Portland, Oregon began operating in July 2016.[18]
- Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C., with service to Washington, D.C., Arlington, VA, Alexandria, VA, Fairfax County, Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland[19][20]
- Citi Bike in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Jersey City, New Jersey[21]
- CoGo in Columbus, OH from Ohio State University to Schiller Park in German Village (and a separate system at Easton Town Center)[22]
- Divvy in Chicago[23]
- Bluebikes in the metro-Boston area (Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, and Somerville).[24]
Discontinued systems
- Bike Share Toronto in Toronto,[25][26]
- Melbourne Bike Share in Melbourne, Australia,[27] sold the system to RACV.
- Pronto Cycle Share in Seattle, Washington
- Bike Chattanooga in Chattanooga, TN
- Nice Ride Minnesota in Minneapolis and St Paul[28]
Systems suppliers
Motivate-operated systems have used multiple suppliers for bikes, stations, kiosks, and technology across each city including 8D Technologies and Montreal-based PBSC Urban Solutions[29][30] for equipment and technology and Cycles Devinci and Arcade Cycles for bicycles.
References
- "Company that owns Divvy changes corporate name to Motivate". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. January 13, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
- Bensinger, Greg (July 2, 2018). "Lyft Follows Uber by Acquiring Bike-Sharing Startup Motivate". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 28, 2019.(subscription required)
- O'Kane, Sean (July 2, 2018). "Lyft buys the biggest bike-sharing company in the US". The Verge. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- Coster, Helen (June 8, 2011). "Beating A New Path For Commuters". Forbes. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
- ""Most Innovative Companies for 2014"". Fast Company. February 10, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
- Chabán, Matt V. (October 28, 2014). "New Leader Will Drive Expansion of Citi Bike". The New York Times.
- Rose, Joseph (October 28, 2014). "Portland's Alta Bicycle Share sold. What does it mean for city's delayed bike share launch?". Oregon Live.
- Hilkevitch, Jon (October 28, 2014). "Company that operates Divvy bike-share program being sold". Chicago Tribune.
- Vaccaro, Adam (October 28, 2014). "Company Behind Hubway Bike Share Bought Out". Boston Globe.
- Rouan, Rick (November 3, 2014). "Transportation Insider: CoGo expected to grow despite purchase". Columbus Dispatch.
- Fried, Ben (January 14, 2015). "New Name for Alta Bicycle Share: "Motivate"". Streetsblog USA. Streetsblog. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- "Alta Bicycle Share has new name: Motivate!". Alta Planning + Design. January 16, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- "Alta bike share becomes "Motivate"". Motivate. January 14, 2015. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
The renaming comes on the heels of the company's recent acquisition by a team of investors including the CEOs of Equinox®, a fitness and high performance lifestyle leader; Related Companies, one of the nation's most prominent real estate firms; and other private investors.
- "World leaders in bike share Motivate and 8D Technologies merge". Cycling Industry News. February 10, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
- "Bike Share Leader Motivate Announces Transformative Agreement with Lyft to Advance the Future of Urban Transportation" (Press release). Motivate. July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- Lyft (July 2, 2018). "Introducing Lyft Bikes". Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- "The Bay Area's bike share program - Ford GoBike". Ford GoBike.
- Njus, Elliot (August 26, 2016). "136,000 miles in, Biketown bike-share makes its mark on Portland". The Oregonian. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
- "Capital Bikeshare". October 30, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
- Johnston, Kristine (April 7, 2014). "Beyond Urban Planning: The Economics of Capital Bikeshare". Georgetown Public Policy Review. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
- "Citi Bike". Retrieved November 18, 2015.
- "CoGo Bike Share: Columbus, OH's Bike Share Program - CoGo Bike Share". CoGo Bike Share.
- "Divvy | Chicago". Retrieved November 18, 2015.
- "Blue Bikes: Metro-Boston's Bike share Program - Blue Bikes Boston". Blue Bikes Boston.
- "Home - Bike Share Toronto". Bike Share Toronto.
- "Motivate and Toronto Parking Authority Announce Transition of Bike Share Toronto Operations — Motivate".
- "Melbourne Bike Share". March 25, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
- Cassel, Em (March 1, 2023). "There Will Be No Nice Ride Program This Year—and Likely Ever Again". Racket. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- "Statement on Our Supplier PBSC". Motivate. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- "Alta Bicycle Share's Statement on PBSC Sale". Motivate. Retrieved February 23, 2020.