How Youth Access to Shared Micromobility Opens New Paths

Four cities across the U.S. share how expanding youth access to shared micromobility supports young people’s success.

Little Tokyo Service Center Class with Metro Bike Share

When 16-year-old Dayyan P. from West Philadelphia needs to get across town, he reaches for an Indego bike — not a bus pass or car keys. 

“I don’t have a car yet. I’m working on it, but I don’t have a car yet,” says Dayyan. “Biking is faster than walking, and there are some places that I can use a bike to get to very quickly. I just don’t need any other form of transportation.”

Dayyan’s use of Philadelphia’s Indego Bike Share system reflects a growing trend among young people seeking efficient, accessible ways to move through their cities. A handful of programs have lower age restrictions, giving young people greater access to transportation.

Photo of Dayyan courtesy of Indego

These low age requirements can mean the difference between missing class or making it on time, especially in cities where “neighborhood schools” are diminishing, as is the case in Philadelphia. 

“Here in Philadelphia, a lot of schools have closed over the years, and so kids have to travel a lot farther now than they did before just to get to school,” says Waffiyyah Murray, Indego’s program manager. “With kids not having the option to walk to school and needing to take some form of public transportation, whether it be SEPTA or bike share, having those additional options are really important, especially when you’re trying to get to school on time, and you might miss that bus, or it might be super crowded, or the trains may be delayed.”

In Los Angeles, Metro Bike Share, which has a 16+ age requirement, reports that about 5% of its ridership is under 19. 

“The 16 line can lead to some disappointing conversations with a 15 or 14-year-old, but they’re still seeing it as an option, which is really cool,” says Lauren Abrahamian, communications and outreach manager at Bicycle Transit Systems in LA.

To support youth access, Metro Bike Share partners with community organizations like Homeboy Industries and the Little Tokyo Service Center to include bike share in youth programming. These collaborations offer hands-on experience and exposure to bike share that can build long-term habits.

“They were exposed to it, and they got to learn in a classroom setting how everything works,” says Abrahamian. “Then it was very tactile, hands-on, riding bike share.”

Homeboy Industries Class

In Nebraska, ROAM Share, which operates in Omaha, Lincoln, and Valentine, allows riders as young as 12 to use classic bikes and 16 for electric bikes. This has been the case for ROAM’s system since it launched in 2011 — an advantage nearly unheard of.

“We have a lot of folks that come from a rural environment to Omaha or Lincoln,” says Benny Foltz, ROAM Share’s executive director. “When they were living in the rural environment, they didn’t see Bike Share or bikes as transportation, necessarily. If they see how great bike share is, they’ll just ride all the time.”

ROAM Share recently partnered with the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) to offer students $5 annual memberships. According to Foltz, the stations on UNO’s campus are the top-utilized stations in the entire system. Five stations are on campus, while three more sit just nearby — two of them along Omaha’s bus rapid transit line, ORBT. 

Senior political science major Nate Ostdiek helped make the deal happen. Nate learned about the program through a sustainability committee and worked with the student government to secure 200 annual bike passes for students. The pilot program, which began in February 2023, was extended to a three-year partnership in August 2024, offering the $5 annual passes through the MavBike Program.

“You’re kind of causing a generational shift,” says Ostdiek. “Omaha is not a bike-friendly city, and one of the ways that that’s going to change is by getting more people out there biking, more people thinking about it, and more people engaging with the road and transportation in that kind of way.”

“Young people are less interested in driving,” he adds. “There are people who are waiting longer and longer to get their license, but people still do tend to know how to ride a bike. It enables a sense of mobility and freedom, and opportunity for growth and development.”

Portland’s BIKETOWN program is tapping into that same energy around investing in youth success and development. BIKETOWN is connecting youth to bike share via conversations around transportation and mobility and climate justice. They do this through the Transportation Academy, which is carried out by the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program.

“We connect [BIKETOWN] to our environment, to transportation and mobility justice, and really how we move around our city,” says Roshin Kurian, BIKETOWN equity programs and partnerships coordinator. “The youth are so excited and primed, and it makes a lot of sense, right? Freedom and fun at that age are pretty easy to sell.”

Back in Philly, Dayyan sums it up: “I know a couple of people who are driving at 17 and getting their license at 16, so why would we have people learning to drive a car before picking up an e-bike? It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

As cities and schools look for solutions to chronic absenteeism and transportation equity, lowering age limits and therefore creating pathways for youth to access shared micromobility could be a small change with big potential. 

BBSP recognizes the barriers that shared micromobility systems face in terms of insurance coverage for younger riders, and we hope that in years to come, younger riders aren’t seen as any more of a liability than any other age group operating shared bikes and scooters.