Good and Boring Bike Share Names

After traveling to dozens of cities, I’ve developed a curiosity for the names of various city bike shares.

If you’re not familiar with bike shares, they are public bicycle rental programs that allow you to pick up a bike from one station and return it to another.

When I lived in New York, I had the yearly unlimited pass. They were perfect for those routes that were a bit far for walking, but too short to subway. For Manhattan in particular, they’re the best way to move crosstown. In three years, I accumulated nearly 1000 “Citi Bike” miles.

I’ve also ridden the Bay Wheels (San Francisco/Bay Area), the Santander Cycles (London) The Bicing (Barcelona), and many more across three continents.

I’ve found the names of these bike shares sometimes fun, sometimes confusing, and sometimes boring.

And sometimes they sell out to big corporations that are funding climate catastrophe (I’m looking at you, New York and London.)

Who cares about the name?

The language we use affects our perceptions of nearly everything around us. Language is our main tool we use to communicate. The name is the starting place for any language.

The names or labels can be used for good and evil, can be effective and ineffective. I’ve written previously about how sinister word-choice changes how we feel about everything from destruction of our environment, to foreign war, to abortion. But we’re keeping it light today. Back to bike shares.

The Best of All Time: “Girocleta” (Girona, Spain)

Girona is a city in Catalonia, Spain, about an hour and a half north of Barcelona (40 minutes by high-speed rail) near the Mediterranean coast. This small gem of a city has a lot going for it, and that includes the name of their bike there.

There are a lot of elements that go into what makes a good bike share name. I’ve narrowed in down to three.

1. The name should elude to the place. That is, when I say the name, I should know what city I’m in. “Girocleta” has that, without a doubt. It’s Girona, and you should pronounce this almost like an -sh sound because it’s Catalan.
2. The name should make it obvious we’re talking about bicycles. You want people in town to overhear others saying how they road the bike share, and have them know it’s a bike share.
3. It has to be easy to say, text, and roll off the tongue. “I’ll be there in ten, gonna hop on the Girocleta.” Beautiful.

“Girocleta” checks all of these boxes.

A Solid B+ Performance: “Encicla” (Envigado, Colombia)

This one also hits on all three for the city of Envigado, just outside of Medellín. Sure, you wouldn’t know it refers to only Envigado based on the name alone, but because it’s so close to Medellín, the name “Encicla” I think tells people that they’re just for Envigado, and you can’t take it across to Medellín. No notes. Continue onward.

Blunt, But Effective: “Bay Wheels” (San Francisco + Oakland)

At first, I wouldn’t thought the Bay Area would’ve gone with “Bike Bikes.” However, I actually love that they when with wheels here. It has a nice ring to it. It’s a quick two-syllable saying that’s easy to throw around.

The Bay Wheel’s biggest problem are all the hills in San Francisco, but I used them in Oakland and Berkeley.

Good Idea, Awkward Execution: “Bicing” (Barcelona), “Pogah” (Pittsburgh), and “Louvelo” (Louisville)

The problem with these three is, well, there are several.

First, there are hints at what city it belongs to, but you need some context.

For example, “Bicing” includes Barcelona’s airport code “BCN” in it, so it’s actually written like “bicing.” Cute. Maybe too cute. I admire that Barcelona, as always, is never sure what language to speak.

I’ll give this to Barcelona, it’s fun to say, and people say it as a verb which is extra fun. People actual say, “I’m going to Bicing there.”

Pittsburgh, what are we doing here? I actually couldn’t find on Google what POGAH stands for. I think it’s like trying to invoke the idea of “Pittsburgh, go,” which is just a much worse version of France’s name for their budget high-speed train “Ouigo” (Get it? “We go.”)

Pittsburgh, I have two better names.

• Pitt Pedals
• Steel Cycles

These check all three boxes for a good bike share name.

And then we have Louisville. Tragically, this bike share got shut down last year, which explains why I saw the docks but couldn’t actually find a bike.

The state of Kentucky, I’m sure, will continue to poor money into their roads and airports and continue to neglect intermodal options that are better for both their citizens’ health and the planet, but I digress.

The problem with Louvelo I believe is I don’t know what “velo” means, and I don’t know how to pronounce this. Louisville is really cute underrated city and they deserve better.

Boooo To The Corporate Sellouts: “Citi Bike” (New York) and “Santander Cycle” (London)

I’ll admit that these both have a nice, simple ring to them. “Santander Cycle” sounds so aggressively British, that there’s no mistaking it refers to a big UK city.

Both of these massive banks for some of the world’s leaders of climate destruction. Actually, according to Bank Green, they come in hot at #2.

Them sponsoring a bike share program is a nice attempt at distracting us from the fact that they continue to pour billions into accelerating the climate crisis.

That said, I do love Citi Bike, and use it in New York as I talk about in this article.

Dishonorable Mention: “Divvy” (Chicago)

This name has nothing to do with Chicago. It has nothing to do with bikes. I supposed it’s easy to say, but the back-to-back v’s are off-putting to me.

CHICAGO, THESE SHOULD BE CALLED “WINDY WHEELS.” That’s the correct answer.

Alternatives to Driving Has a Public Relations Problem

I’m saddened how often in the U.S., when I show up to somewhere by bike share or bus, I’m meant with a cringe. “You rode a bike??” While the discussion for another day, I believe the stigma around taking the bus or biking to work is keeping us from using it, seeing its value, and investing in it so it improves. Doing this will make it easier for us to live without a car, even in the U.S.

Better public relations, branding, and marketing begins with the right name.