SusqueCycle Review: Harrisburg’s Bike Share Has Potential, But Needs to Grow [With Video]
I took an Amtrak day trip to Harrisburg, and right when I walked out of the train station, I noticed a handful of white bikes docked right next to the bus shelter.
Oh my goodness, I thought, Harrisburg has a bike share!
Alternatives to driving in cities really excite me, especially when traveling, because I think the best ways to see a place are on foot and bike.
So my friend and I scanned the QR code, grabbed some bikes, and went where we could with them. In this article, I’ll share my experience with Susque Cycle and where I hope the system is going in the future.
Overall Impressions:
- It’s great that Harrisburg even has a bike share system. Cycling as transportation shouldn’t just be reserved for big U.S. cities like New York and Philadelphia.
- Harrisburg struck me as a compact, dense city for its size that gives it real potential for cycling.
- It was easy to set up and cheap.
- The problem is the very limited number of docks and bikes. This needs to grow before it’s a widely used system and a true transportation option for residents.
Starting Our Ride: Easy Peasy
The bikes all had a QR code to download the app. As a visitor, it made getting started simple in the moment.
It didn’t have Apple Pay, so I had to stand there (in December) and take my credit card out. But it’s nice that one person can activate two bikes, so if you’re with someone, only one of you needs to download the app.
The bike itself was easy to ride. Like most bike share bikes, it’s heavy and sturdy, so not as fast as your own bike, but dependable.
Price: Very Cheap
It was $1.50 per 30 minutes, or a $25 annual pass with unlimited 60-minute rides. That makes it incredibly accessible for visitors like us. The system appears to benefit from sponsorships and research grants, which helps keep costs low.
Here’s an area where Harrisburg is doing a better job than New York City, where the Citi Bike bikeshare is managed by Lyft, a private for-profit company, and doesn’t receive direct subsidies. That means a ride is over five bucks without a membership.
The Problem With SusqueCycle: Very Limited Dock Locations
Most docks are concentrated Downtown, with a few pushing into Midtown, one in Allison Hill, and another on City Island, a park right across the river from downtown. We rode across to City Island, and I can see the appeal. It saves you the walk across the bridge.
A local news outlet from December 2025 said that 41% of their rides go to or from City Island. Well, it’s really one of the only destinations.
This highlights the fundamental problem with bike share systems that don’t reach critical mass.
A successful network needs enough docks taking you to enough places that the bike becomes a viable transportation option, not just a recreational novelty. When you only have a handful of stations, you’re stuck with a system that’s really just connecting a few specific points.
That’s fine for tourists visiting a park, but it doesn’t create the network effects that make bike sharing transformative for a city, and a reliable, cost-effective option for residents.
Once at Allison Hill, we docked the bikes there. There were only about six spaces, and none had bikes when we went to dock. It’s not just the lack of docks, it’s the lack of bikes. Even if you had a dock near you if there are no bikes, it’s not useful.
The Ride Experience: Low-Traffic, But Limited Bike Lanes
There’s a waterfront near City Island with a “greenway” that was pleasant to bike on for a few blocks, and downtown had some blocks with a protected bike lane. Mostly, though, you’re dealing with ordinary bike lanes.
Once we crossed the bridge toward Allison Hill (a very narrow bridge shared with pedestrians), bike lanes disappeared. These were clearly local streets where most drivers were going slow, so that was good.
From my brief visit, Harrisburg could absolutely be bikeable. The bones are there.
Docking the bikes was pretty easy. On the back of the seat, there’s a switch you hit once you’re in the dock area. A little less intuitive than an NYC Citi Bike, but still easy enough to figure out.
The bike infrastructure in Harrisburg was decent for a city of its size, but not good enough to support a flourishing bike share program.
In the Allison Hill area, on our walk from there to the National Civil War Museum, we saw several people biking, but they often used sidewalks. That’s a telltale sign that the roads don’t feel safe for cyclists.
A Successful Bike Share System Is Great for Cities, Big and Small
A functional bike share system offers real benefits to a city.
It reduces car dependency, cuts down on traffic congestion, and provides an affordable transportation option. (I mean, c’mon 25 bucks for the year!)
For short trips like grabbing a bag of groceries, commuting to work, or running errands, bikes can be faster and more convenient than driving or waiting for a bus.
And the demographics suggest Harrisburg could really use this.
The population density exceeds 6,000 people per square mile, which is quite decent for a U.S. city its size. Census data shows that car ownership rates in Harrisburg are much lower than the U.S. average. Fourteen percent of households have no car, and 43.5% have just one car. So the majority of households have one car or less. That’s a clear sign that alternatives to driving could genuinely benefit people.
But SusqueCycle has to expand to be a viable option.
Overall: Cool for Tourists and Park Visits, Limited Actual Use
I had fun using it, but it probably would’ve been faster to walk to the National Civil War Museum (our destination) than to do what we did, biking from downtown to Allison Hill and then walking.
The same local news article from December 2025 bragged that ridership is up to over 3,300 rides this year. That’s fewer than ten rides per day. That’s… not a lot.
SusqueCycle shows promise, and I’m glad Harrisburg is investing in alternative transportation. But to make a real impact, the system needs more docks, more bikes, and better connectivity to serve residents’ daily needs. Right now, it’s a nice amenity for park visits. With expansion, it could become something much more meaningful.
I’m rooting for you Harrisburg!
