GREENbike FAQs

Bike sharing is a new way of getting around. It’s affordable, clean, and simple. It’s good for your health, your pocket, and our environment.

Imagine a network of bike stations located within a few blocks of one another throughout your community. As a bike-sharing member, you can unlock any of the specially designed bikes at any station and ride it to any other bike station. Fast, simple, inexpensive. It’s no wonder bike sharing has exploded in popularity the past few years.

GREENbike is a next-next-generation bike-sharing program. It is a zero-hassle, zero-emissions way to get around town. It’s a bike-sharing program that meets the transportation, health, and environmental needs of our community. 

GREENbike is the only bike-sharing program that measures the actual distance traveled on each ride and keeps track of the calories you’ve burned and the carbon emissions you’ve prevented. All this information is available on your personal GREENbike web page.

GREENbike is the future of bike sharing, and it’s available now.

Imagine a bike that is always ready to ride, where and when you want to ride it. The tires are always inflated and the chain is never rusty. A bike with a basket to carry your knapsack. A bike with front and rear lights and a bell. A bike that fits people tall and short. A bike that’s there whenever you need it, and gone when you don’t. That’s a GREENbike. And it’s powered by the ultimate alternative fuel: you.

GREENbike is a collaborative program with the following partners: 
- Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency
- Salt Lake City Transportation Division
- Salt Lake Chamber
- The Downtown Alliance
- Select Health
- RioTinto
- Utah Transit Authority
- Visit Salt Lake

These partners share one common goal: changing the way you get around. And thereby changing our communities for the better. So grab a GREENbike from the nearest bike share station and we’re on our way.

GREENbike relies on the integration of hardware and software to keep track of members and bikes, and all the interactions between users and bikes. Proprietary GPS (global positioning system) and RFID (radio frequency identification) technologies make it possible for bike sharing to be so smart that it is simple for users.

All rides are tracked by the system and associated with members. Data such as distance, duration, calories burned, and carbon offset are captured and uploaded to personal web pages at greenbikeslc.org.

The cost to use a GREENbike is divided into two components: a pass/membership fee and a usage fee. 

PASS/MEMBERSHIP FEE  

The pass/membership fee provides unlimited access to a GREENbike system for a specific period of time, typically ranging from one day to one year.

USAGE FEE

Usage fees are charged based on the length of each ride taken by a member, and are typically broken down into half-hour increments. With GREENbike, the first half-hour is free and usage fees are only assessed for rides that exceed 30 minutes. 

Click on the Rates tab at the top for details about GREENbike pass/membership fees and usage fees.

GREENbike requires that all accounts be associated with a credit card. 

Not at this time.

A GREENbike card is a plastic card distributed to GREENbike annual members. The cards contain an RFID chip uniquely associated with each member’s account. When the GREENbike card is presented at a GREENbike dock, the GREENbike system is queried to confirm that the member is in good standing and to associate the member with the bicycle they are checking out. 

When a bicycle is returned, the GREENbike system updates the member’s account.

GREENbike cards also contain a magnetic strip so the cards can be read by the credit card reader found on the kiosk, thereby allowing the GREENbike card holder to obtain time credits when a station is full.

GREENbike cards are issued to all annual members and are sent in the mail following online registration. 

For 24-hour passes and 7-day memberships, a user’s credit card is charged once or twice. The pass fee will be charged at the time of registration. If any usage fees have accrued during the pass/membership period, a second charge will be processed following the end of this period. 

For annual memberships, there will be an initial charge for the membership fee at the time of registration, and thereafter there will be a monthly charge for usage fees, if any, accrued during each month of the membership. A final charge will be processed following the end of the membership period. 

Membership periods begin the first time a bike is checked out following initial registration. Daily memberships end 24 hours later. Weekly memberships end 168 hours later (7 days times 24 hours). Annual memberships end 8,760 hours later (365 days times 24 hours). 

GREENbike operators can sell prepaid gift cards in varying amounts. The gift card contains a promotional code the gift receiver enters on a registration page to partially or fully offset the cost of a membership. The person receiving the gift card must also register a credit card to cover usage fees and other possible fees. 

If you have a 7-day membership, you can upgrade it to an annual membership by paying the additional amount necessary. To be eligible for this upgrade option, you must upgrade before your other membership expires. For example, if you bought a weekly membership for $15 on July 1 that expires on July 7, you can log in to your personal web page anytime before the end of July 7 and upgrade to an annual membership. If the cost of an annual membership is $75, you will have to pay only $60 ($75 minus $15) for the upgrade.

Annual members also have the option of automatically renewing their annual memberships by selecting Auto-Renewal in the Account Preferences section of their personal web page.

Personal web pages remain “live” for three years after the lapse of membership. 

Go online to your personal GREENbike web page and suspend your card, or call Customer Service immediately so that we can suspend the card and prevent anyone else from using your card to gain access to a bicycle for which you are financially responsible.

A replacement card will be provided for a nominal fee.

While waiting for your replacement GREENbike card to arrive, you can check out bikes by using the kiosk at each station. You must present the credit card associated with your membership account. 

Call Customer Service.

Membership fees are non-refundable, but if you wish to suspend your account to prevent any new usage fees, call Customer Service or manage your account on your personal GREENbike web page.

Upon presenting your GREENbike card at a station kiosk or dock for authentication, the system checks whether your account is in good standing. If there is a problem, your card will be denied. Please call Customer Service to determine the cause of the problem.

When registering, members can choose whether they want to receive text notifications. Members can change that preference anytime thereafter by logging into their personal GREENbike web page and managing their account settings.

Members can change their credit card information by logging into their personal GREENbike web page and managing their account settings.

Return a damaged bike to a bike share station, if possible, or if that is not possible, securely lock it and contact Customer Service. Do not ride a bike with damage that affects its safety features.

Members are financially liable for damages to bikes under their care. Refer to Terms and Conditions for your system.

Contact Customer Service. If your bike is not docked at a station then we will send someone to retrieve it. Your account will be charged a fee for a lost key. 

Contact Customer Service. Under the Terms and Conditions agreed to upon registering for membership, members may be liable up to a specified limit if a bicycle is stolen or lost while under their care. Refer to the Terms and Conditions posted on your system’s website.

Your membership period begins the first time you check out a bike.

Information about each member’s use of GREENbikes is posted to that member’s personal GREENbike web page. Members must log in to view the information, which includes such information as the date and duration of each trip, the station from which the bike was checked out and the station to which the bike was returned, the distance pedaled, the usage fee (if any), the associated calories burned, and carbon offset.

GREENbikes are equipped with an internal GPS device that tracks the bike’s trips. Other technology associates each trip with the member who checked out the bike. After this information is transferred to GREENbike’s computers, algorithms translate the trip information into estimates of the number of calories burned and carbon emissions avoided (as compared to the use of an average automobile for the same trip). If there are technical errors with the data collection or transfer, an estimate will be applied and clearly noted as such.

When signing up online for a 7-day or annual membership, only one membership can be associated with a credit card. When buying a 24-hour pass at a kiosk, up to four memberships can be associated with a credit card, but the same card must be presented each time a bike is checked out during the membership period.

In Utah it is legal to ride without a helmet, but GREENbike strongly recommends wearing a helmet whenever riding a bicycle.

No. There are hygiene and safety issues with shared helmet use. It is the responsibility of the rider to supply his or her own helmet. 

Yes.

A GREENbike dock beeps when a bike has been unlocked or when the bike has been returned.

When the bike is unlocked, the dock beeps continuously until the bike is removed (or 30 seconds, whichever comes first). The green light will also flash from the time the bike is unlocked until it is removed from the dock.

When a bike is returned and properly inserted into the dock, the dock will beep three times very quickly, and the green light will likewise blink three times very rapidly.

If the red “X” is lit on the dock, there is a problem with either the bike or the dock itself. Try a different dock!

If the orange “bad card” sign is lit, we need to talk to you about a problem with your membership. Just call the Customer Service number printed on your GREENbike card or displayed on the bikes and kiosk.

All users should be at least 18 years of age. 

Yes

GREENbike will typically open in March or April each year and close in November or December, depending on weather. GREENbike will infom the public well in advance of system opening and closing. 

Bikes can be returned any time. Two beeps and two green blinks indicate a successful return. 

Please return a bike with a flat tire to the nearest GREENbike station. If that is impossible, you must properly secure the bike with the built-in lock and contact Customer Service via phone.

If there has been an injury, please dial 911 first. If you are qualified to administer first aid and there is a need, please help out to the limit of your abilities. If appropriate, contact the police, as well. As in any accident, exchange information with any other affected party and collect contact information from witnesses. Contact Customer Service at the earliest appropriate time.

If you have a bike you wish to return, but there are no available docks at a station, you must locate a station with available docks and return the bike there. The kiosk located at each station will provide real-time information about which nearby stations have available docks. The kiosks at full stations will also add 15 free minutes to your ride so that you can take the bike to an open station without financial penalty.

The GREENbike website and associated mobile application provide a map of all bike share stations in that system with real-time information about the availability of bikes.

GREENbike does not allow members to reserve a bike.

GREENbike is a bike-sharing system designed to promote the constant use and turnover of bikes for short journeys. The pricing system provides incentives for members to keep their trips short. The longer the trip, the higher the usage fee. GREENbike system operators will seek to recover bikes that have not been returned after a specified period of time, and bikes not returned within a three-day limit will be considered lost and members will be liable for a replacement fee (see the applicable Terms and Conditions).

The GREENbike website and associated mobile application provide a map of all GREENbike stations. Maps are also displayed at each GREENbike station.

To make the kiosk sign-up process as simple and quick as possible, only 24-hour passes are available at the kiosks.