Family-Owned Business to Launch Electric Bikeshare Service in Youngstown, OH, 2023

Youngstown will soon see its first bikeshare service. YoGo Bikeshare will launch in March 2023 with a fleet of 30 electric-assist bicycles and four docking stations. Customers can borrow the bicycles from 7:45 AM to 10 PM daily. Customers can purchase rides on YoGo Bikeshare through the following subscriptions:

• $90 for an annual subscription. First-time customers get 20 minutes free through this subscription. After that, customers get unlimited 30-minute rides, with a cost of $0.10 for each minute above that.
• $7.50 for a day-long subscription. First-time customers get 15 minutes free through this subscription. After that, customers get unlimited 20-minute rides, with a cost of $0.15 for each minute above that.
• $4 for a single 20-minute ride. First-time customers get 15 minutes free. After that, customers can ride for up to 20 minutes, with a cost of $0.15 for each minute above that.

Unlike most other bikeshare programs, YoGo Bikeshare is operated as a Black-owned family business, not through a transportation agency, a micromobility vendor, or a non-profit. As a small city with a 41% Black population, the owners feel YoGo Bikeshare can meaningfully meet a communitys’ needs. Start-up funding for YoGo Bikeshare includes a $174,000 loan and an additional $5,000 prize from the Youngstown Business Incubator, and a $5,000 investment from one of the owners. YoGo Bikeshare can model to other peer communities how to support a bikeshare program as a small for-profit business.

Last updated March 10, 2023