Project MOVER Brings A Regional Bike Share Network to the Hudson Valley

A new bike share program in New York’s Hudson Valley is helping to bridge the first- and last-mile gaps and provide a new transportation option within the region.

A Project MOVER station hub in Ossining.
Photo credit: Drop Mobility

A regional effort is underway in New York State to increase access to clean mobility options and support the state’s climate goals by introducing bike share. 

Project MOVER (Moving Onto Vast E-micromobility Replication) is a regional e-bike share initiative in Westchester’s lower Hudson River Valley. It currently operates in six communities serving the Town of Ossining and the Villages of Croton-on-Hudson, Tarrytown, and Dobbs Ferry. Drop Mobility, in partnership with Shared Mobility Inc., manages the bike share system, which has separate operating agreements with each community. While these agreements are similar in language, minor differences exist regarding removal terms and approval authority for modifications.

Funded by the NYSERDA Clean Transportation Prizes, a pilot phase ran from August to December 2024 in the Village of Ossining and has since grown as other communities joined, in an effort to secure grant funding as part of the local cohort of the Electric Micromobility Incubator. Project MOVER’s NYSERDA Clean Transportation Prizes grant funding continues through the end of 2026, and the project team is looking into sustainable funding options beyond then. The project is led by EIT InnoEnergy, with the support of Nelson\Nygaard. Project MOVER plans to continue growing across the region in areas of need. The system plans to have 300 bikes at 50 station hubs through the grant funding. They are currently at about 240 bikes and 42 hubs.

“The Project MOVER team analyzed indicators of mobility access need and of population vulnerability to identify areas for potential expansion under full deployment,” says Brynn Leopold, senior associate at Nelson\Nygaard. “The Village of Tarrytown also launched a public survey and community workshop to collect ideas for future station locations.”

The mobility access indicators include proximity to existing bus stops and rail transit stations, employment density, and population density. Project MOVER describes vulnerable populations as those with limited English proficiency and those who are rent or mortgage-burdened. The team also used feedback from discussions with community partners and municipal staff.

The team examined the distribution of Assisted Limited Income Constrained Employed (ALICE) households, as defined by the United Way of Westchester and Putnam Counties, along with the New York State criteria for Disadvantaged Communities (DAC), and used the US Department of Transportation’s Equitable Transportation Community Explorer tool. These resources helped identify strategic areas for deployment and outreach for Project MOVER. Two of these maps, courtesy of Nelson/Nygaard, are included below.

“There is a high proportion of residents commuting outside of these Villages and Towns for work, and the need for affordable mobility options to connect to Metro-North and other job centers farther from bus routes is high,” says Leopold. “The bikeshare program is designed to serve these individuals, as well as visitors.”

According to data from Nelson\Nygaard, the pilot program in The Village of Ossining last fall saw about 1,500 trips averaging 1.36 miles and just under 19 minutes each. The usage patterns reflected typical first- and last-mile connections. The three most popular hubs were the train station, a local park, and a shopping plaza with a grocery store. With the addition of new towns this season, similar patterns have emerged, with an average trip duration of 18 minutes. Since the end of July, approximately 4,000 trips have been made by more than 1,250 unique riders.

Partnerships with community-based organizations, as well as being visible at local events, have helped spread the word about Project MOVER. Community partners are also compensated for their valuable expertise in community engagement. Neighbors Link, an organization that works with immigrant families, and Open Door Family Medical Center, a federally-qualified health center that works with underserved communities, were critical in Ossing’s community engagement with its share of the regional bike share system.

“Neighbors Link and Open Door in particular have helped us reach residents from the newly-arrived immigrant community; their rapport and earned trust with their clientele have helped this program to reach residents who may not always feel comfortable working directly with local government,” says Rika Levin, Mayor of the Village of Ossining.

Photo credit: Nelson\Nygaard

Additionally, any outreach materials throughout all the communities were offered in the local Spanish dialect spoken by many in the immigrant community. Through this initial outreach, another need was identified, including adding additional types of e-bike access programs beyond bike share, including an e-bike incentive program offering discounts on e-bikes from local bike shops for those who qualify and an e-bike library, where residents can rent e-cargo bikes for longer periods of time.

A recent recipient of the E-Bike Incentive Program voucher
Photo credit: Shared Mobility Inc

“We are excited to see how the other two components of the program will continue to shape how Ossining gets around, and what a scalable, community-driven project like this one can mean for micromobility opportunities throughout the region, state, and county, says Mayor Levin.

Looking ahead, Project MOVER is excited to collaborate with Hudson Link to certify local community members as Bike League Certified Instructors to develop and host bike skills classes, and serve as community ambassadors for this new regional bikeshare network.