Despite state and local officials encouraging people to stay at home because of COVID-19, Baton Rouge’s bike share program is reporting a 213% spike in ridership.
The program began as a Baton Rouge Area Foundation project and was launched last July by South Carolina-based Gotcha, with state and parish coffers providing the startup money.
Trips per day have grown to nearly 600 as of April 26, while weekly active riders grew to 1,500. Before the emergence of COVID-19, the amount of weekly active riders was less than 100, according to a BRAF newsletter.
Three of the top four hubs for starting a bike share ride were around University and City Park lakes. The Louisiana Art & Science Museum in downtown is also among the top four hubs.
Last summer, Gotcha rolled out 500 bikes across 50 hubs throughout the city, including LSU and Southern University. Two months following the launch of the long-anticipated bike share program, Gotcha company officials were saying the Baton Rouge program was averaging 350 rides per day.
