PHOTO COURTESY BIKE SHARE PITTSBURGH

If you feel like you’re noticing more bikes on the roads, you’re probably right: POGOH bikeshare hit record-breaking ridership last year and has reached 1 million rides total since launching in 2015.

“Students, residents and visitors embraced POGOH last year — it’s clear that when we expand the station network, our ridership grows significantly,” said David White, executive director of Bike Share Pittsburgh, the nonprofit that operates POGOH bikeshare, in a press release.

To meet the demand, Bike Share Pittsburgh has announced POGOH’s Phase 3 Expansion, which aims to add more than 50 new stations to Pittsburgh over the next few years. There are currently 60 stations across Pittsburgh.

“We have a vision that POGOH stations cover every neighborhood in the city, and that over time our network will extend to many inner-ring municipalities in Allegheny County,” White said.

POGOH plans to engage with Pittsburgh communities to choose the 50 new locations; feedback is being accepted through an interactive map on its website.

Funding for the new stations will come from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program, the Gaming Economic Development and Tourism Fund Grant in partnership with the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County, and other grants.

In 2023, 211,000 rides were recorded, up significantly from the previous high of 124,000 in 2021. Bike Share Pittsburgh said the increase in usage can be attributed to factors such as the popularity of the electric-assist bicycles, high ridership from the University of Pittsburgh community, increased support for biking and walking, and collaboration with PRT, which allows users to register and rent POGOH bikes through its Transit App.