Celia Hernandez, Contributing Photographer

After a four-year absence, rental bikes returned to the streets of New Haven. 

New Haven Parking Authority’s bike share program, Ride New Haven, launched on Sept. 3 for the first time since its suspension during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program provides electric bikes and will additionally bring regular-pedal bicycles. As of Sept. 9, New Haveners took over 500 bike trips. 

“That first ride means a lot,” Doug Hausladen, executive director for the New Haven Parking Authority, said at the launching ceremony on Sept. 3. “It put a smile on our faces. I know it’s kind of cliche, but it’s taken a lot of work.” 

According to Hausladen, the new electric bikes are “a game changer.” Not only do they allow commuters to arrive at work without breaking a sweat, Hausladen said, but they are also more accessible to those with lower physical capabilities or those seeking low-intensity exercise. 

Currently, 100 Class 1 electric bikes are stationed at 30 stations around New Haven. By just pedaling slowly, a rider activates the bike’s motor, propelling the bike to 14 to 16 miles per hour.  

Ride New Haven will add 100 regular-pedal bicycles to the system in the nearest month, according to Hausladen. These bicycles are being refurbished and reused from Bike New Haven, a retired bike share system that launched on Jan. 1, 2020. Bike New Haven was indefinitely suspended in May of that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, users can choose between a membership or the standard Pay as You Go rate, which costs $1.00 to unlock the bike and $0.25 per minute for use. Ride New Haven offers discounted rates for riders with monthly and yearly memberships, as well as reduced fees for veterans, seniors and low-income New Haven residents. 

As of Sept. 9, there have been over 500 trips in total, including 43 that day alone, according to Hausladen. The average ride length lasts 12 minutes. The program currently boasts 52 active members, including one pass for low-income residents, 44 monthly passes and seven annual passes. 

The goal of the reduced rates is to increase accessibility and empowerment for all members of the New Haven community. 

“How much freedom you have depends on how far you travel in 40 minutes to an hour,” Hausladen said. “By increasing connectivity between places and modes we aim to get people further faster.”

Amelia Lee ’26, a New Haven Climate Movement member, noted that people of color and low income tend to have less access to bikes. 

The New Haven Coalition for Active Transportation, chaired by Hausladen, aims to reduce this disparity and bolster the general New Haven biking community by offering free biking lessons for kids and adults. 

Strides towards sustainable transportation methods are another goal of the program. 

Transportation accounts for 38 percent of Connecticut’s overall greenhouse gas emissions. Small pushes away from gas-powered vehicles can help reduce emissions in the long run, Lee said. 

Lee and the New Haven Climate Movement are currently campaigning for a transportation resolution that promotes active modes of transportation and the construction of pedestrian and bike pathways to be passed by the Board of Alders.

Bikes are an especially promising alternative in New Haven because of the city’s relatively flat landscape. 

“I bike to all my rugby practices and classes. New Haven is a very bikeable city,” New Haven local and frequent cyclist Henry Rugemer ’28 said. “There are a lot of new bike lanes, and I’m super excited to give Ride New Haven a try.”

Back in August 2023, the Parking Authority put out a request for proposal seeking operators to reintroduce a shared micro-mobility system to New Haven. In March of this year, Hausladen and the New Haven Parking Authority selected Drop Mobility — a Toronto-based company that provides bikes and other micro-mobility to cities across the country — as the provider for Ride New Haven. 

According to Hausladen, Drop was chosen because of their willingness to collaborate beyond just providing their basic bike. The company will help to repurpose the old bikes, and will provide new electric and cargo bikes. 

Hausladen hopes to see a day when all New Haven residents and commuters can live by the “park-once methodology.” He elaborated, “if you do have to drive a car downtown, you can just leave it in the stall — park once — and you’ll be safe to ride bikes around town the rest of the day.”