November has arrived, bringing with it the first snow to the twin cities and the unofficial beginning of winter. Unfortunately, this also signals the end of the NiceRideMN bikeshare program. The bikes were pulled from the streets on November 7, but the program is calling the inaugural year a success as it surpassed its initial goal of 100,000 rides:
NiceRide Year End Statistics
I would be very interested to know how their financial results stack up to their goals. Some quick math shows me their program revenues from subscriptions were about $225k for the year. This seems low, but is unsurprising since the bulk of the funding likely comes from sponsors like Blue Cross Blue Shield. In any event, I'm glad to hear that program management was pleased with the performance.
What about my own $60 membership, was it worth it? Here are my own stats pulled from the NiceRide website:
Trips - 88
Usage time - 7 hours
Admittedly, most of the trips and hours (65 and 4, respectively) were logged doing the Nice Ride 65 Challenge, leaving 23 trips for the remainder of the season. Many of those trips saved me from having to park in the heart of downtown, or even catch the bus or light rail back home, even though I had to walk a mile or so from the closest bikeshare station. Using a conservative estimate, the bikeshare probably saved four downtown parks, and four one-way transit fares:
Parking - $6 x 4 parks = $24
Transit Fare - $2.25 x 4 = $9
Adding to those tangible benefits, I also received a t-shirt, which I'll call a $5 value, plus a coupon book that saved me $23 (two bike shop coupons for $10 each, plus a Lucia's coupon that scored me a free breakfast item).
My riding certainly wasn't as prolific as this guy, but these items got me pretty close to break even, so I would say the membership was worth it:
$ 60 - initial outlay
($56) - total savings ($33 park/transit, $23 in coupons)
$ 4 net cost
Does this mean I'm also hanging up my cycling habit for the winter? Hardly, though I have been searching for bicycle storage options, which could potentially result in hanging up some bikes in the new garage. What it does mean, though, is that I'll be transitioning from the Long Haul Trucker to a winter steed with studded tires to brave the ice and snow. I hope I get my gear in shape soon so the last four weeks aren't indicative of the next four weeks:
Summary
Week 101 (October 25 - 29)
Mon - Thurs - Car
Friday - Carpool
Week 102 (Nov 1 - 5)
Mon - Tues - No commute (vacation)
Week 103 (Nov 8 - 12)
Mon - Thurs - Car
Friday - Carpool
Week 104 (Nov 15 - 19)
Monday - Carpool
Tues - Friday - Car
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