Bike Share Names: A Power Ranking

Posted on Mon 03 February 2020 in misc

The other day I was reading Boom Town, Sam Anderson's "Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding... Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis." In addition to learning all about tornadoes, Kevin Durant, civil rights pioneer Clara Luper, the founding land rush, and more, I discovered that the city's bike share program is known as Spokies. This lovely portmanteau (wheel spoke + Okies) raised a critical question: What bike share system has the best name?

I couldn't find a great directory of programs, so I made my own by looking at the top 100 American cities by population. I'm sure there are great bike share program names in other cities and countries, but, unfortunately, I had to draw the line somewhere (see Notes/Methods for details).

Before I get to the main list, there are two special categories and an honorable mention.

Go, Go, GO!

Four cities use an xGo convention that I quite like:

Ranking Name City Comments
4th CoGo Colombus, OH
3rd TuGo Tuscon, AZ
2nd MoGo Detroit, MI Nice nod to Motor City is enough for 2nd in this category.
1st ToleGO Toledo, OH Such a smooth integration of GO into the name of the city deserves 1st.

Colorful Communities

Four cities use a color to identify their bike share system:

Ranking Name City Comments
4th Bluebikes Boston, MA Blue from Blue Cross Blue Shield, the naming sponsor; this is in last place instead of tied with New Orleans because I really liked the old name: Hubway.
3rd Blue Bikes New Orleans, LA Blue from a similar sponsorship with Blue Cross Blue Shield.
1st (tie) Red Bikes and Green Bikes Cincinnati, OH and Boise, ID Two unsponsored names, good color choices, a tie for 1st.

Honorable Mention

Though well outside the top 100, I came across Lexington, MA's Minuteman Bike Share. Great name with an excellent nod to local history. More cities should learn from Lexington.

Power Rankings - Top 10!

Now to the main, extremely scientific, event. It was hard fought and there were some solid (and many boring) names left on the floor. I'm proud to present the best Bike Share system names:

Ranking Name City Comments
10th Nice Ride Minnesota Minneapolis, MN A nice extension on the idea of Minnesota Nice
9th Heartland BCycle Omaha, NE BCycle is a company that operates dozens of bike share systems around the US. Some have great names (and appear on this list). Most of them are called "City Name Bcycle." I applaud Omaha for having some fun with that convention and not using their City Name.
8th Bay Wheels San Francisco Bay Area, CA A positive step forward for a system formerly known as "Ford GoBikes."
7th CaBi (Capital Bikeshare) Washington, D.C. CaBi is fun to say and reminds you of your presence in the Capital city.
6th Bublr Bikes Milwaukee, WI I can't figure out why this system is called Bublr but I like it. It's cheery and memorable.
5th Biki Honolulu, HI How can you not love a program that has a Bikipedia (FAQ) and a press site called Biki Leaks.
4th Pike Ride Colorado Springs, CO Referencing nearby Pike's Peak and it sounds like "bike ride," what could be better?

Well, I guess these champions can be better!

Ranking Name City Comments
3rd This Machine Tulsa, NE No clue why Tulsa calls their bike share system by this name, but it is intense and I dig it.
2nd LouVelo Louisville, KY Velo is the French word for bike (see also Velodrome) and it fits so well with Louisville. A+!
1st Spokies Oklahoma City, OK I was inspired to this project after learning about this name. I went searching to see if any American city could top it. They all came up short. Spokies is the best bike share system name in the US.

Bike share programs are excellent, whether they have good names or not they are an incredibly valuable part of the urban fabric. Support your local Bike Coalition and help make your more city more bike-friendly!

Notes and Methods:

bikes