A $1.5 million state transportation grant announced in May will help push Pittsburgh’s POGOH bike share system beyond city limits for the first time.

It marks the next stage in a program that has grown from a Downtown amenity into a significant piece of the region’s transportation network.

The funding, awarded through Pennsylvania’s Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside program, will support a fourth phase of POGOH’s expansion by adding 17 stations in communities of greatest need.

Community feedback will be solicited in neighborhoods including Wilkinsburg, Homestead, West Homestead, Millvale and others, according to Bike Share Pittsburgh, the nonprofit that owns and operates POGOH.

Currently, there are 60 stations with a fleet of 600 bikes.

For Bike Share Pittsburgh, the award represents the next step in a vision that increasingly links bicycles with buses, trails and other transportation options.

Ruach Bicycle Club founder Mike White sees a need for more POGOH bike stations in Homewood. ( Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)

“We have articulated a regional vision for POGOH,” said David White, executive director of Bike Share Pittsburgh. “This next Phase 4 is really our announcement that we’re ready to make that next step, that we’re ready to move beyond the borders of the city of Pittsburgh.”

That expansion comes after several years of dramatic growth.

Healthy Ride to POGOH

Bike sharing has existed in Pittsburgh since 2015, when the system launched as Healthy Ride. But ridership accelerated after a 2022 relaunch as POGOH, which introduced electric-assist bicycles and an innovative charging system that allows e-bikes to recharge while docked at stations.

According to Bike Share Pittsburgh data, annual trips climbed from 124,211 in 2021 to 570,260 in 2025. The system more than doubled its usage between 2023 and 2025.

White credits much of that growth to the introduction of e-bikes and station-based charging.

“By introducing the electric-assist bikes, it has really dramatically extended that sort of age target,” he said. “Older persons find it much easier to use a bike that has a bit of an electric assist.”

Because stations charge bikes while docked, operators do not have to collect and transport depleted batteries, making charged bikes more available. Today, roughly two-thirds of the fleet consists of e-bikes.

According to White, about half of POGOH’s operating budget comes from sponsorship, largely from Highmark Health; the other half comes from riders. White predicts that this revenue model will remain stable over the next few years. Bike Share Pittsburgh reported operating expenses of $2.14 million in 2024, according to its tax filings.

The bike share program receives federal and state assistance for capital campaigns, including to install new equipment. Each new station costs approximately $100,000, White said, including purchasing equipment, engineering, site prep, permitting and installation and assembly.

Though the program does not receive city funds, the city does play a role in applying for federal grants.

Government grants usually require local matching funds, so POGOH taps into Pittsburgh’s philanthropic community, which provides 20% to 30% matching grants.

Conrad Schroeder of Lawrenceville said POGOH has allowed his family to get by with one car.

In Lawrenceville, where POGOH is a popular amenity, resident and longtime bike share user Conrad Schroeder has seen a tangible impact on his life.

“It’s one of the reasons my family can have just a single car,” he said. “It’s just been fantastic.”

The system has also benefited from partnerships with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, whose students, faculty and staff receive access through institutional memberships. According to White, approximately half of all rides are taken by university-affiliated users, while the remainder is split between residents and visitors.

Reaching new neighborhoods

Before its next phase begins, POGOH is still working through the final approvals needed to launch Phase 3.

That expansion would add about 40 stations throughout Pittsburgh, including service in neighborhoods such as Squirrel Hill and Highland Park and additional locations in Homewood, Oakland and the South Side. Installation is expected to begin later this year, although all stations may not be completed before year's end.

The proposed locations are the product of nearly two years of public engagement, including through neighborhood meetings, community events and consultations with local stakeholders. Bike Share Pittsburgh says it will continue collecting feedback before finalizing station placements.

Much of the upcoming expansion focuses on communities connected by the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway, one of the region's busiest transit corridors. That emphasis reflects a growing understanding that bike shares work best when integrated with public transit, rather than competing against it.

“Very few or almost no transit trips are solely transit trips,” said Laura Chu Wiens, executive director of the Shadyside-based nonprofit Pittsburghers for Public Transit. “They almost always begin with either walking or biking trips.”

Ms. Chu Wiens said strategically locating bike share stations near busways and transit hubs can help solve the so-called “first-mile/last-mile” problem, by allowing riders to bridge the gap between home, work and transit stops.

“Having the bike network be shaped in such a way that it is addressing those longer-distance connections ... is very valuable,” she said.

Homewood ambassador

The importance of those connections is particularly evident in areas such as the city neighborhood of Homewood and the borough of Wilkinsburg, where many households do not have cars.

Oliver McNabb, 11, of Point Breeze, rides his bike during an event sponsored by Ruach Bicycle Club at Frick Park. ( Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)

About 20% of Pittsburgh households do not have access to a car, according to U.S. Census Bureau data provided by Census Reporter. Homewood and Wilkinsburg have been categorized as “extreme need census tracts” by Allegheny County, indicating a lack of access to a vehicle that is approximately double the Pittsburgh average.

Those statistics help explain why transportation advocates have emphasized affordable alternatives in historically underserved communities.

In 2022, POGOH launched its Mobility Justice Membership, which provides unlimited 30-minute rides for $10 annually to residents who qualify for government assistance programs. Mobility Justice trips increased from 23,062 in 2024 to 37,666 in 2025, accounting for nearly 7% of all rides.

“We have a pretty clear social mission to keep our system affordable and to make it useful and convenient,” White said.

Among those helping connect POGOH with East End neighborhoods is Mike White, founder of the Homewood-based Ruach Bicycle Club.

The club combines mountain bike riding with STEM education for students in grades 6-12 and serves as a community ambassador for POGOH, organizing rides and educational events.

Mike White said the existing Homewood stations have already demonstrated demand.

“When you ride through, a lot of the stations are empty,” he said. “There are people who just really want to ride but don’t have a bike. So POGOH … helps bridge that gap.”

Ruach Bicycle Club often meets up at a bike station before taking a ride through the community, he said.

Mike White said he believes the existing stations in Homewood have made a difference, and the proposed addition of more could further improve access to jobs and mobility. For Homewood residents with a new job but no vehicle, “I know POGOH helps curb that obstacle,” he said.

Riding into the future

The ambition to move beyond city limits is still in its earliest stages. Bike Share Pittsburgh expects at least a year of community engagement, site evaluation and permitting before the first stations appear in municipalities outside the city. Still, the direction is clear.

The long-term vision seeks to create a regional network that links bicycles, buses, trails and rail under a single system.

Ultimately, David White said he’d like to see 400 stations throughout Allegheny County, so everyone would be within a 10-minute walk of a bike station. The implementation of such a plan would “really dramatically change the way that people move in our city.”

The clearest measure of POGOH’s success will be ridership. When asked about his 10-year goals, the POGOH head stated, “I’d love to see millions of trips happening every year on our system.”

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