Draft:Alta Bicycle Share (Company)

History

A US firm, Alta Bicycle Share was founded by Michael Jones of Alta Planning + Design in 2010, becoming the first transportation-oriented bike sharing firm in the country when it won the Arlington, VA, bike share system in 2009 followed by the Washington, DC system (Capital Bikeshare) using Bixi (aka Public Bike Share Company) equipment from Montreal. ABS grew from a few hundred bikes in 2010 to over 14,000 bikes in most major US cities in 3 years.

Jones grew up riding his bike in Marin and Sonoma Counties in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked on his first trail/bikeway project in 1986 while working on his masters at George Washington University (City of Annapolis ‘Parks & Paths for People’). He later founded the active transportation specialties at Wilbur Smith Associates (1990) and Fehr & Peers Associates (1992).

Principals from sister-company Alta Planning + Design made up the management core of Alta Bicycle Share. ABS managers Mia Birk, George Hudson, Steve Durrant, Jeff Olson, and Brett Hondorp pioneered the modern business economic model of bike sharing in the US.

Mr. Jones served as the CEO for Alta Bicycle Share starting in 2009, winning bike share systems in Melbourne, Australia, New York City (CitiBike), Boston (Hubway, now Bluebikes), Chicago (Divvy), Chattanooga (Bike Chattanooga), San Francisco (Bay Area Bike Share), Seattle (Pronto), Portland (Biketown), Columbus (CoGo), and Toronto (Bike Share Toronto), creating the largest bike share operations company in the world outside of China.

By 2014, Alta Bicycle Share had 14,700 bicycles in 10 regions in the US, Canada, and Australia taking around 395,000 trips weekly, while (uniquely) generating a profit and grossing up to $1.277 million/week.

Alta Bicycle Share played a key role in the growth of bike sharing in the US, launching over 14,000 bikes in four years and pioneering numerous aspects of the service, including pioneering public-private contracts that included profit sharing with government agencies.

Builders and Innovators recognized Michael Jones as one of the ‘100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs’ in 2014. Fast Company named Alta Bicycle Share one of ‘The World’s 50 Most innovative Companies in 2014.’ Alta Bicycle Share bikes were on the cover of the New Yorker Magazine on June 3, 2013 edition. Bruce Willis rode a CitiBike onto David Letterman’s show in mid-July 2013. Acquisition

Alta Bicycle Share was sold to Motivate in 2014, subsequently bought by Lyft for $250 million in 2018