Baiada Center’s CityRyde Wins Green Business of the Year Award

CityRyde, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in public bicycle sharing set up in the Baiada Center's business incubation space, has won Fast Pitch's first "Business of the Year - Best Green Business" award. CityRyde was founded in November of 2007 by LeBow College BSBA senior Timothy Ericson and Drexel alumni James Perkins and Jason Meinzer.

The idea for CityRyde was generated by Ericson while he was studying abroad in London. Riding the wave of growth in sustainable transportation, CityRyde aims to enable and maximize the environmental, economic and social benefits of bicycle sharing. Bicycle sharing is an emerging form of environmentally friendly public transportation that incorporates information technology with shared bicycles to serve as an alternative form of one-way transit for residents and visitors of a region. The progressive concept is fairly new to the United States -- though Drexel University already offers bicycle sharing free of charge through the Drexel Bike Share Program for students, faculty and staff.

Ericson said that "at CityRyde, we use our bike-sharing knowledge to promote bicycle sharing as a reliable transportation alternative that is both profitable and sustainable. Our work to date has contributed to the success we've had with the Fast Pitch contest."

Meinzer said that "Bike sharing is happening all over the world, and we can expect new deployments in the United States over the next year." The City of Philadelphia is already in the process of evaluating bike-sharing options and a feasibility study is currently under way.

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