May 19, 2026
Library and Community Services
Public Works
DATE: May 19, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
LaShonda White, Deputy City Manager, Community
Services Department
Gabino Arredondo, Project Manager II
SUBJECT:
Contract Amendment No. 3 with Charleston Mobility for
Electric Bikeshare Operations
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed $390,000 expenditure is funded by the approved fiscal year 2025-2026 Environmental and
Community Investment Agreement (ECIA) Transportation
Budget, consistent with the First Mile/Last Mile
Transportation Strategic Plan. Sufficient appropriations are available in the designated project accounts (Account Strings: 11785051-400201-2A109/(TCC) 13761019-
400201-16G20).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
June 4, 2019
July 20, 2021
August 24, 2022
September 12, 2023
January 28, 2025
July 1, 2025
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
To keep the City of Richmond E-Bike share program
operating, funding in the contract needs to be increased to cover past and future invoices till the end of the FY and allow time for direction to the future of the program during the development of the Fiscal Year 2026/2027
budget. City staff is requesting City Council approval to execute a third contract amendment with provider
Charleston Mobility (DBA Ride Today).
AGENDA
REPORT
May 19, 2026
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE a third contract amendment with Charleston
Mobility in an amount not to exceed $390,000 for a total not-to-exceed contract amount of $3,540,341, to support the continued operation of the citywide electric bikeshare program till the end of the fiscal year to allow time to determine the future of the program during the Fiscal
Year 2026-27 budget process; and APPROPRIATE
$390,000 from the Environmental and Community
Investment Agreement (ECIA) Transportation budget to
cover the cost of the contract amendment – Public
Works/Community Services (Gabino Arredondo 510-620-
6606/LaShonda White 510-620-6828). This item was
continued from the April 28, 2026, and May 5, 2026,
meeting.
DISCUSSION
Since 2018, the City of Richmond has operated an electric bikeshare program to provide resident access to electric bikes via bike hubs located throughout the City. The goal of the electric bikeshare program is to expand electric bicycle (e-bike) access through e-bike sharing and education, and to facilitate multimodal transportation in connection with transit and other regional electric bikeshare operators. As previously appropriated funds for the service provider Ride Today are nearly exhausted, City Staff are requesting $390,000 in additional funding from ECIA Transportation Budget to allow services to continue operation until the end of the fiscal year.
PROGRAM HISTORY
On July 18, 2018, the City of Richmond and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) entered a grant funding agreement in the amount of $1,024,000 to fund the Bike Share Capital Program to plan and operate a pilot electric bikeshare program. The program was to fund a total of 250 e-bikes, to be stationed at 25 bike hubs located throughout the City. In June 2020, the Richmond Transportation Division successfully launched this pilot electric bikeshare program with bikeshare contractor Bolt Mobility.
Emergency Contract
In July 2022, Richmond’s bikeshare contractor Bolt Mobility abruptly ceased operations within several national markets. Approximately 60 e-bikes were abandoned at various hubs throughout the City, and Bolt Mobility defaulted on their local warehouse lease containing over 150 additional e-bikes and hub equipment. In response, City Council approved an emergency sole-source contract for $345,000 with micromobility firm Charleston Mobility, also known as Ride Today, on August 19, 2022, to save the remaining equipment and relaunch the program as soon as possible. This effort limited deployment to a maximum of 100 e-bikes to allow time for program stabilization,
May 19, 2026
equipment repair, community engagement, strategic growth planning, and evaluation of the previous program’s effectiveness.
Transformative Climate Communities
Additionally, the electric bikeshare program was included as part of the City’s Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) grant application to the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) to expand bikeshare access in the underserved neighborhoods of Iron Triangle, Santa Fe, and Coronado (TCC Project Area’). In October 2022, the City and its partners were awarded a $35 million TCC grant, including a total of $998,979.21 to support an expanded bikeshare program through July 2028. This funding included additional e-bikes and hubs, as well as a full-time Community Engagement Manager position to increase awareness and use from residents of these neighborhoods through direct engagement at community events.
PROGRAM RELAUNCH AND CONTINUED FUNDING
The City and Ride Today had a soft launch in September 2023 which included four (4) bike hubs, and 27 deployed e-bikes, with the official launch in February 2024. To support continued operation, on November 20, 2024, the ECIA Transportation Committee received a presentation from Ride Today staff on the bikeshare partnership with the City and approved a recommendation to City Council for $577,484 in ECIA funds to sustain the program for an additional eight (8) months.
At the time of the second contract amendment, a total of 12 bike hubs were installed and in use within the City. As part of the contract amendment, Ride Today anticipated installation of an additional 10 bike hubs with an additional 50 e-bikes in circulation; since the contract amendment, no additional bike hubs have been installed. Additionally, Ride Today notified the City that a government grant funding team was hired in Washington, D.C. with a focus on locating and applying for grant funding; however, the City has not been contacted by this grant team and has not been notified that additional funds have been secured to-date.
On July 1, 2025, the City Council approved a second amendment to the contract with Ride Today and appropriated $410,000 in ECIA funds to support continued program operations for an additional six (6) months.
PROGRAM METRICS
As of December 2025, there are 12 electric bikeshare hubs, including 7 hubs in the TCC Project Area. Additional metrics are listed below in Table 1.
Table 1. Ride Today Program Metrics
Measure July 1, 2025, through
December 4, 2025 To-date a
May 19, 2026
Registered users in Richmond b 889 new sign-ups
4,238 registered users
(includes new FY25-26
users)
Total trips 578 trips 4,175 trips
Average total trips per day 3.7 trips/day 5.3 trips/day Users who took at least one trip b 200 users 2,021 users Percent of total registered users
who took at least one trip b
4.7% of registered
users
47.7% of
registered users
Repeat users (i.e., users who took
more than one trip) 72 users 723 users
Percent of total registered users
that used bikeshare program more
than once
1.7% of
registered users
17.1% of
registered users
Average # of trips per registered
user b 0.65 trips 0.99 trips
Average # of trips per user who
took at least one trip b 2.89 trips 2.07 trips
Average distance per trip 2.08 miles/trip 2.27 miles/trip Average time per trip 34.4 minutes/trip 37.5 minutes/trip Total CO2 emission reductions
(metric tons) 0.52 metric tons 4.11 metric tons
Positive experience during
ridership 87% 86%
Total City expenditures for
Ride Today c $261,316.36 $2,777,771.07
Cost to City per trip c $452.10/trip $665.33/trip
Cost to City per user who took at
least one trip during period c $1,306.58/user $1,374.45/user Cost to City per ton of CO2
reduced c
$501,566.91/ton of
CO2 reduced
$675,281.65/tons of CO2
reduced
a Data is from program launch in September 2023 through December 4, 2025. b Users who register on Ride Today’s platform may not necessarily end up using the program.
Therefore, this data distinguishes between registered users and users who took at least one trip. c These data include ECIA and TCC funding sources. However, Ride Today has not submitted a TCC-specific invoice since March 2025; therefore, TCC-associated rideshare program costs after March 2025 have not been included here and the presented data is an underestimate of total costs. TCC staff anticipate submission of these late invoices and estimate a total additional cost of approximately $110,000.00. Additionally, these data do not include the initial MTC grant of $1,024,000 which was paid to Bolt Mobility for initial program launch and operations.
As shown in Table 1 above, 4,238 users have registered on Ride Today’s platform, and 4,175 total trips have been taken by users. Of registered users, 2,021 users (47.7%) have taken at least one trip, and 723 users (17.1%) have taken more than one trip. For the period between July 1, 2025, and December 4, 2025, 200 users (4.7%) took at least one trip, and 72 users (1.7%) took more than one trip.
May 19, 2026
Free Voucher Program
To increase community outreach and encourage ridership, Ride Today began distributing free prepaid ride vouchers to residents of the TCC Project Area in March 2024 through community events and tabling efforts. Each voucher was loaded with an average of $89 in ride credit for recipients to use toward rides.
As of December 2025, a total of 1,478 vouchers had been distributed and activated in user accounts, representing approximately $125,960 in available ride credits. However, only $15,790.63 (13%) of those credits had been redeemed. The funding request includes expenditures related to vouchers issued and not redeemed.
CO2 reduction
By providing an alternative mode of transportation for riders, the bikeshare program reduces vehicle trips and associated greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2. As shown in Table 1, total rides resulted in CO2 emission reductions of approximately 4.11 tons.
Because CO₂ mixes evenly throughout the atmosphere and causes global climate impacts regardless of where it is emitted, it is considered a global—not local—pollutant.
Therefore, the damages of CO₂ emissions are typically valued using a Social Cost of Carbon that reflects worldwide impacts (e.g. damages associated with increasing global temperatures and sea level rise) rather than local exposure. In November 2023, the EPA published a report estimating the social cost of one ton of CO₂ emissions at $209.441. Therefore, total CO₂ emission reductions from the bikeshare program can be associated with an estimated $860.79 reduction in damages globally.
CONTINUED FUNDING AND FUTURE OF THE PROGRAM
Although customers pay a fee to ride the electric bikes, Ride Today is not financially viable without continued financial support from the City. The program has been funded through the ECIA Grant Funds; however, these funds are in their last year of existence. In order to keep the City of Richmond E-Bike share program operating and pay any outstanding invoices, funding in the contract needs to be increased to cover past and future invoices until the end of the FY 2025-26 and allow time for direction to the future of the program during the city budget development process of the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget. After detailed review and reconciliation of the current contract and budget, City staff realized that there were minimal funds remaining to cover the costs of the City-wide portion of the e-bike program, as the funds available on the contract were allocated to the TCC-portion of the fund. Therefore, City staff is requesting City Council approval to execute a third contract amendment with provider Charleston Mobility (DBA Ride Today).
May 19, 2026
NEXT STEPS
During the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget discussion, City staff will bring a detailed report regarding the future of the e-bike program for City Council consideration. At that time, City Council can determine if the e-bike program should: (1) continue as-is with a limited number of e-bikes and bikehubs, (2) expand to increase the e-bike offerings to additional locations throughout the City, or (3) conclude within the first quarter of FY 2026-27 with the City offering other opportunities for e-bikes and/or other forms of alternative transportation to support first mile-last mile connections.
SYNERGISTIC POLICIES
The Richmond First Mile/Last Mile Transportation Strategic Plan builds upon recent planning efforts that focus on improved transit connectivity, enhanced accessibility, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
The Bicycle Master Plan sets forth a blueprint for completion of a 145-mile system of bikeways and support facilities within Richmond. The Plan builds upon the existing system of on street and off-street bicycle facilities throughout the City, focusing on connections between neighborhoods, safe routes to schools and access to major destinations such as employment centers, stores and shops, parks, trails and open space areas. The Plan also includes criteria for defining different types of bicycle facilities, a listing of priority projects, recommendations for increasing the supply of bicycle parking, design standards and education and safety programs. One of the goals includes increasing the number of people of all ages and backgrounds who bicycle for transportation, recreation and health.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Draft - Charleston Mobility Bike Share Contract Amendment 3 Attachment 2 – Charleston Mobility Bike Share Contract Original, Amendment 1 and 2 [Combined]
Attachment 3 – Draft e-bike program presentation