In July, my sister visited and asked me to show her some of my favorite things to do in San Francisco. We own a couple of bikes, so I suggested we ride bikes through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach. She said she didn’t have the energy for a regular bike, but would ride an e-bike. I knew there were some Lyft e-bikes in our neighborhood, but believe it or not, I’d never actually tried them out (or even ridden an e-bike of any kind before) since I already have my own bike.

There’s a first time for everything, and I was surprised at how much fun I had riding an e-bike for the first time. But the costs for one-off rides started to add up quickly. My first ride through Golden Gate Park was $7. After we stopped at Ocean Beach to hang out for a bit, we rented them again to ride down to Sunset Dunes and I spent another $9. This was steep compared to riding my own bike (free) or Muni for $2.85. But I had to admit the rides were fun, and the ability to just dock it at the end of my ride and not worry about it was convenient. This made me wonder whether the monthly subscription would make it worthwhile if I used them more frequently.

Lately I've noticed more and more people riding the Lyft bikes around town. On October 29, The SFMTA reported that riders took more than 4 million Lyft Bike trips in San Francisco in the first nine months of 2026, more than they did in all of 2025. So when I saw that Lyft was offering a free 30-day trial membership at the beginning of September, I had to try it out for myself to see if it was worth paying for. I decided to document how I used the bikes over the course of a typical month. Every time I went somewhere, I needed to decide whether to take a Lyft bike, walk, take Muni, or an Uber. I put together a list of things I liked and disliked about the Lyft bikes, and had to make a decision on whether I could really justify paying for another subscription in my life to… ride a bike, something I already do for free.

A membership to the Lyft bike program costs $29 a month or $165 a year. This sounds pretty good at first, but you still need to pay $0.17 a minute to use the e-bikes, even with a membership.

It is also not guaranteed that prices will stay at these levels. The five year contract extension that was approved in March 2026 allows annual membership price increases of inflation plus 2%. It also acknowledges that Lyft is currently losing money on the deal. New York City's Citi Bike (operated by Lyft), has raised its annual membership price five times since Lyft took over in 2018. It has also raised its e-bike usage fees 4 times since 2024.

If you aren’t a member, you pay a $1 unlock fee each time you use an e-bike, plus $0.49 a minute. Members can unlock e-bikes for free and can ride classic bikes free for up to 45 minutes. If you can’t find a parking dock, you can park with a cable lock, but this costs an additional $2.

It was still hard to get a clear picture of how much this would cost each month after usage fees. I was unsure how often I would actually be using the bikes and how many minutes each ride would take, so I documented my usage during the free trial month.

This was the first day of my experiment. My first choice was whether to ride an e-bike to the Noname concert at the Regency Ballroom. I decided to ride the 38 Geary in this case since it was a night show on a busy street, and I was going to have a few drinks. I took Muni there and back. It’s an easy straight shot to Geary and Van Ness for $2.85 each way, so no reason to ride a bike for this one.

The next day was more promising. I picked up an e-bike near Rossi Park and rode down to Café Enchanté near Geary and 26th Ave. I rode a little over 2 miles in 17 minutes for a cost of $2.17. This was less than Muni and was pretty much my ideal use of the e-bike. I docked at 26th Ave and Clement, about a block from the café. I find that around 2 miles is roughly the distance where I decide between walking or taking another form of transit. Anything less than that I typically walk.

After getting some work done at the cafe, I took a “low-assist” e-bike to the Richmond Library on 9th Ave. Since the station had only e-bikes available, the app offered me a bike in “low-assist” mode. This means you get an e-bike for the price of a classic bike, but it is not full powered. Since I have a membership, classic bikes are free, so the low-assist bike was also free in this instance. The lighter assistance gave me more exercise than the full e-bike, but still made the trip easier. It took 10 minutes for me to ride 1.31 miles, and there was a dock right in front of the library. After spending some time at the library, I grabbed some bread at Boudin Bakery and rode a classic bike home. I put the two loaves in the basket on the bike, and the ride was free. I’d say this day was a win.

For my next trip, I wanted to visit the UCSF Parnassus Library. We wrote about its reopening to the public about a year ago. It’s a place I enjoy working and studying since it has amazing views, but it’s just far enough away from me that I don’t go as often as I would like. Plus there is a steep climb at the end of the walk. I chose a full-assist e-bike for this ride and reached the area (about 2 miles away) in less than 15 minutes. The ride cost $2.58.

Docking Issues

Riding up the hill was easy, but I wasn’t sure where to end the ride. I had expected there to be a dock in front of this library since the Richmond library had one out front. But I couldn’t find one. I ended up needing to go back down the hill and parked at 7th Ave and Irving. Then walked back up the hill, which kind of defeated the purpose a bit. I later realized that I could have used the e-bike’s built-in cable lock and parked closer, although parking away from a station adds a $2 fee. 

On the way home, I took another e-bike through Golden Gate Park. It was a gorgeous day, so I cruised around the park a bit for fun. I’d say my first couple of days using the e-bikes were peak, and at the rate I was riding them, I thought the subscription was going to be a win for sure.

On Labor Day, I went to Hiero Day at the Midway to see Hieroglyphics and Killer Mike. I considered riding an e-bike 6.5 miles, but it would have taken about 40 minutes and cost around $7 even with the membership. An Uber was $12.36. The bike was cheaper, but I was less familiar with the route and I knew the streets would be busier. And once again, I knew I’d be drinking at the event. Taking Muni would take over an hour from where I live and involve multiple routes. In this case, it was much easier to just take an Uber.

On another day, I was walking toward a Lyft dock a few blocks away, but along the way I saw a bus coming already, so I just got on the bus. On other days, I just didn’t think about the Lyft Bikes at all (I forgot), so it started feeling similar to a gym membership where you have a membership to something that you aren’t using enough.

Similar to other subscriptions I pay for, I started feeling obligated to use it after skipping nearly a week. But when I got to the docking station at Arguello and McAllister there were no bikes. I then walked over to the Rossi Park station a few blocks away and it was empty too.

So you can’t just show up at your usual stations and assume a bike will be there waiting for you. You need to check the map first. I noticed there were a few other stations farther away that had bikes, but by the time I walked 5 or 6 more blocks to reach one, I would already be close enough to my destination that I might as well walk the rest of the way.

After Far Out Fest on Balboa, I found an e-bike and rode home down Cabrillo in the sunshine. The trip was 2.16 miles and cost $2.40, less than Muni. It was faster than waiting for a bus and a much funner ride. Rides like this are what make the subscription seem worth it.

On September 18, I rode along the Lake Street Slow Street toward Andronico’s at 32nd Ave and Clement. The route was mostly car free. Along the way, I noticed the Lincoln Park Steps, and it was a lovely ride. I parked near the grocery store, then walked over to Diamond Coffee on Geary for some coffee. This ride was great.

Low Batteries

I wanted to ride down Lake Street again on September 24, but there were no e-bikes at my usual spots. The map showed several bikes near 5th Ave and Anza, so I walked over and found two e-bikes. One only had 1 mile of charge remaining, so that wasn’t an option. The other had 6 miles left, which was a bit low, but enough to get the job done. So even though paying for a membership removes some friction, there are small inconveniences like low batteries, lack of bike availability, and some spots without convenient docking stations.

I took the bike with 6 miles of charge and headed west on Lake Street. The weather was perfect, so I continued to Lands End before returning to the Outer Richmond. The battery was sufficient for the 3.35 mile ride, which took 21 minutes and cost $2.17. This was one of the best trips of the month since the route was beautiful, but I felt I had to stop a bit early since I was concerned about the battery running out.

On Saturday, there were plenty of bikes at my usual station, probably because fewer commuters were using them. I rode toward Page Street, and followed the Slow Street east. The route was smooth and pleasant. The 2.09 mile ride took 16 minutes and cost $2.95. Like Lake Street and JFK, I enjoyed Page Street because the ride was easy, and a little over 2 miles.

On the final afternoon of my trial, I walked to the Rossi Park station at about 4 p.m. looking for an e-bike. Unfortunately there was only a single classic bike. The map showed 3 more empty stations nearby, and a single classic bike at 5th and Anza. I decided to just ride Muni. Sure, I could have taken the classic bike, but I already own my own bike, and I don’t need a subscription to ride it. The point of the subscription is that it makes it easy to grab an e-bike and go without thinking about it. And on many occasions throughout the month, that wasn’t the case.

Over the course of the month, I only ended up taking nine rides. I took 7 rides on full e-bikes, one on a low-assist e-bike, and one on a classic bike. Usage fees were $17.76 (excluding the subscription fee).

Lyft told me that the membership "saved" me $56.88. While that’s true if the alternative was Lyft's non-member rate. But my real alternatives were walking, using my own bike, riding Muni, taking an Uber, or staying closer to home.

The membership costs $29 a month or $165 a year, which works out to $13.75 a month. Here's how my September compares:

The membership is a great deal compared with paying Lyft's non-member price. But compared to Muni, it doesn’t really pay off on cost alone.

Suppose I rode the Lyft e-bikes more frequently and rode them to work downtown and back every day, 21 days a month. Riding from 6th and Clement to Salesforce Transit Center, if it took roughly 30 minutes, would cost $5.54 on the e-bike each way. Multiply that times 42 trips, and add the $13.75 membership fee. That’s $246 a month. Compared to a monthly unlimited Muni pass for $86, I’d choose Muni.

So Lyft bikes aren’t really competitive on cost for getting from point A to B. It's more of a judgment call on whether it’s worth it for the fun factor or if you have some specific route that makes it worth it.

Availability was a problem on four different days (Sept. 10, 22, 24 and 29) that I wanted to ride a Lyft bike. I wasn’t sure if this was just a “me problem”, or if other people were experiencing the same thing. Turns out someone has measured this already. A rider has been archiving the station data Lyft publishes since February and shared the results on r/baywheels in March, along with a tool that shows the odds of finding at least two e-bikes at any station at any time of day.

I looked up my two home stations. On weekdays, both have a better than 85 percent chance of having two e-bikes early in the morning. But by 9 a.m., the odds at McAllister and Arguello (by Velo Rouge) and at Arguello and Edward (Rossi Park) are down to roughly 20 to 30 percent, and they stay low until the evening.

Where are all of the bikes?

Obviously the bikes didn’t just disappear. The bikes went somewhere. When I stopped by the Salesforce Transit Center for the Pop-Up Transit Art Fair it became clear that all of the bikes had migrated downtown. The Salesforce Transit Center had so many Lyft Bikes that the docks were overflowing. I know it’s pretty obvious that many people commute to work and back on these, but it’s an important point for people like myself who don’t have the typical 8 to 5 job downtown.

The SFMTA says the city has added 25 bikeshare stations since 2025 and plans to install 15 more, so they are working on the availability problem.

Based on my observations, the subscription is probably great for people who commute downtown during regular working hours.

The membership probably makes sense if you:

It’s a harder sell for my case, which is the complete opposite:

For me, the Lyft Bike subscription reminded me of my iPad. I have a MacBook and a smartphone, and sometimes I convince myself there is room for an “in between” device. Sometimes there is, but oftentimes it just collects dust because the other stuff I have covers most situations.

The Lyft Bikes occupied an in-between position in my transportation life. Walking and using my own bike is fine for trips that are nearby. Muni works well for longer trips on a defined route, and I can ride the 5, 38, 31, or 33 to get to most places I need to get to. Uber works great for complicated routes or shared trips. The e-bike is wonderful when the route, weather, battery and availability aligns, but it never became my default mode of transportation.

For my travel patterns, I would want at least 20 natural rides per month that are 15-20 minutes each before paying for the annual membership. I ultimately canceled before the membership renewed, but it was still a nice experience. It worked beautifully when there was a bike available, the weather was nice, and it made sense for my destination. But too often there wasn’t a bike available, or I just didn’t feel like paying for another subscription and individual fees just to get somewhere. So I just went back to my usual routine.