HISTORY OF SHARED MOBILITY INC - SMI

Thanks to grant funding from Independent Health and Ford Philanthropy, SMI launched an e-bike rebate pilot that provided income-qualified adults in Buffalo & Niagara Falls a $650 point-of-sale discount on the purchase of an e-bike at local bike shops. This pilot demonstrates a means of lowering transportation barriers, supporting local businesses and encouraging safe biking habits with prerequisite safety workshops.

SMI launched an e-bike incentive program in Westchester County that provides income eligible residents with a $1,000 point-of-sale discount on the purchase of an e-bike at local bike shops. This program is demonstrating a new approach to making transportation more affordable to lower income residents while also emphasizing e-bike maintenance and rider safety.

SMI’s WNY E-Bike Library partnered with The Tool Library to introduce e-bike lending, allowing members to rent refurbished e-bikes for free or discounted weeklong use, expanding access to mobility tools alongside their 4,000+ tool collection. The e-bikes are an extension of their tools.

SMI and Drop Mobility launched Project Mover’s E-Bikeshare Pilot in Ossining, NY, with 50 e-bikes across 11 docking stations, offering affordable, sustainable transportation as part of a three-year initiative to expand mobility in Hudson Valley communities.

SMI joins a $7M NY Clean Transportation Prize initiative to launch e-bike share, library, and ownership programs in five Westchester Co. communities. Starting in Ossining, the project focuses on equitable, community-driven micromobility solutions.

Reddy Bikeshare, in partnership with Independent Health, introduced Reddy+, its first fleet of pedal assist e-bikes, to enhance active living and mobility options for Western New Yorkers and visitors.

Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative launched its E-Bike Library, offering free pedal-assist e-bike borrowing to promote sustainable transportation and healthier living, as part of the WNY E-Bike Library initiative. The project, led by SMI, received support from Independent Health.

SMI partnered with Tomorrow’s Neighbors to donate 15 e-bikes for their Ride 2 Work program, providing reentrants in Carlisle, PA, with cost-effective, flexible transportation to support their reintegration into society.

East Side Bike Club, a long-time bike club that organizes group rides and bike repair workshops pilots Buffalo’s first e-bike library program alongside Shared Mobility Inc. at a storefront near the Bailey Kensington neighborhood. This pilot was supported by a grant from the Ralph Wilson Legacy Funds, administered by Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.

SMI supported the launch of Pacoima Beautiful’s Electro Bici E-Bike Library in Los Angeles, utilizing 100 retrofitted e-bikes to address clean mobility and economic recovery.

Reddy Bikeshare surpassed 100 stations with 13 new locations in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, while launching a pilot program for electric pedal-assist bikes to improve accessibility and promote active living.

CDPHP Cycle introduced electric pedal-assist bikes, expanding its bike-sharing system across the Capital Region through a partnership with Shared Mobility Inc., CDTA, and Drop Mobility.

SMI staff piloted and researched best practices of E-Bike libraries and how they could work in Buffalo & Niagara Falls.

With support from NYSERDA, Shared Mobility Inc., invited the public to test out e-bikes and e-scooters at multiple pop-up events across NYS. This grant-funded project surveyed 690 people into making their first touch point with an e-scooter and or e-bike.

Uber agreed to donated 3,100 discarded e-bikes to SMI to support our “Transportation Libraries” initiative—transforming unused bikes into a sustainable, community-powered mobility solution.

SMI launched Bike Stockton E-Bikeshare in Stockton, CA, with 35 e-bikes across 5 stations, as part of the Stockton Mobility Collective, offering affordable transportation options and advancing sustainability with support from SJRTD, and SJCOG.

Reddy Bikeshare launched a special $1 “Essential Workers” pass, serving people who worked in healthcare, food service & food delivery in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 1,120 people signed up for the special discount pass.

Reddy Bikeshare, in partnership with Independent Health and support from the city of Niagara Falls, expanded into Niagara Falls, adding 145 bikes across more than 25 stations in the Cataract City.

SMI hosted a statewide Summit in Rochester NY highlighting innovations in transportation, equity and the environment.

Capital District’s bikeshare program expanded to 350 bikes and 80 stations. CDTA provided a public poll on where the public wanted to see bikeshare expand.

The CDPHP Cycle! bike share program launched in the Capital Region with 160 bikes at 20 locations across Albany, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, and Troy, showcasing a successful public-private partnership with CDTA, Social Bicycles, and CDPHP.

In partnership with Independent Health, SMI launched Reddy Bikeshare in Buffalo with 200 GPS-enabled bikes across 30 stations, offering affordable, flexible green transportation option.

In response to state insurance regulations, Buffalo Carshare closed its program and sold its fleet to ZipCar. Those state regulations were amended in 2023, permitting one of the co-founders of Buffalo Carshare to relaunch a smaller version of the program in 2025.

SMI, in collaboration with Friends of Pathways, carried out a four-week bikeshare pilot in Jackson Hole, WY, supported by a state grant, to evaluate the potential for launching a bikeshare system using smart bikes. This tested the viability of bikeshare in very small markets.

SMI launched a groundbreaking 4-city pilot in Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and Saratoga Springs, showcasing GPS-enabled smart bikes that lock to any public fixture—facilitating 2,000+ trips and paving the way for future public-private investment in flexible, tech-driven bikeshare systems.

SMI launched Capital CarShare in Albany and Troy, NY, establishing a locally-run nonprofit car-sharing service designed for smaller cities. The program was rebranded as Drive CDTA in 2022, and is currently operating.

SMI piloted a vanpooling program with Erie County Senior Services and the Salvation Army, using a wheelchair-accessible van to transport seniors on Buffalo’s east side to healthy meals and recreational activities twice a week.

SMI, launched the nation’s first GPS smart bikeshare system, in partnership with the University at Buffalo. It started with 25 bikes and expanded to 75. This pilot project involved NYSERDA, NYSDOT, and Social Bicycles, and marked a milestone in innovative and equitable transportation.

SMI expanded Buffalo Carshare’s fleet with electric vehicles as part of a pilot. At the time, Buffalo was one of the first carshare programs in the country to include EVs.

Buffalo CarShare added a truck to its fleet, supported by the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, assisting members with errands like moving and supporting nonprofit partners like Grassroots Gardens in creating community gardens.

Buffalo CarShare completed its first year of service, observing that approximately more than half of its users were households earning $25,000 or less, and two-thirds reporting they could not afford to buy their own car.

Buffalo CarShare launched its first four vehicles, offering affordable hourly car rentals starting at $5 an hour, supported by a NYSERDA and NYSDOT grant, to provide environmentally friendly transportation options in Buffalo.