Bike Share

Updated: October 29, 2020

What is Bike Share?

Bike share lets you borrow a bike for a quick errand, a trip to Link light rail, an all-day adventure, and everything in between. You pick up the bike-share bike closest to you, ride it to where you want to go, and leave the bike for the next person to ride.

Seattle's Bike Share consists of electric-assist bicycles, which have the potential to make bike share a more accessible and convenient mobility option. These bikes still require users to pedal, they just make Seattle's challenging topography a little more manageable.

How Does it Work?

Bike share in Seattle is currently run by one private vendor, Jump. The fastest way to start riding is to download the company’s app, and follow the instructions provided.

Bike share users should know how to ride a bike and should be familiar with local bike laws. Don’t forget your helmet!

You can still rent a bike if you don’t have a smartphone or a bank account! Check out the links under "Permit Year (Permit 2.3)" below for information from each vendor.

When your ride is finished, you can park the bike near any city bike rack or on the sidewalk in the landscaping/furniture zone. Please follow the selected company’s instructions on how to lock the bike and end your trip.

Parking Guidelines

We need your help to make sure bike share works for everyone in Seattle. Badly parked bikes can cause problems for people getting around on our sidewalks. Do your part: when you end your ride, park the bike according to our guidelines listed further down this page.

We partnered with Rooted in Rights, a non-profit organization that protects the rights of people with disabilities, to create a video highlighting the importance of parking bike share bikes correctly and help people with disabilities move around the city. Please watch before your next ride, and share this video with others.

  • You can only park the bike in the landscaping/furniture zone of sidewalks (the part of the sidewalk with trees, poles, and other fixtures). Make sure that space is more than three feet wide, or park the bike at a public bike rack.
  • Leave at least six feet clear for pedestrians to pass.
  • Do not park on corners, driveways, or curb ramps.
  • Do not block access to buildings, benches, parking pay stations, bus stops, hydrants, etc.
  • Park the bike upright.
  • Do the right thing—don’t park in somebody else’s way, and don’t hide the bike somewhere the next user can’t find it.
  • Check out our bike parking diagram to better help you understand where to park your bike, and where to avoid parking.
landscaping/furniture zone of sidewalks. A graphic table that shows the street type on the y-axis and the zones of the sidewalk on the x-axis. The zones shown are the frontage zone, the pedestrian clear zone, and the landscape/furniture zone. The downtown, downtown neighborhood, downtown neighborhood access, urban village main, urban village neighborhood, urban center connector, and urban curbless street types all have a 2' minimum frontage zone (6' desired). All street types require a 6' pedestrian clear zone. Downtown streets require a 8' minimum pedestrian clear zone and 10' minimum for streets with frequent transit network designation. Downtown neighborhood streets require 8' minimum for streets with FTN designation. Urban center connector streets have a 10' minimum for streets with FTN designations. Urban village main and urban village neighborhood streets require 8' minimum pedestrian clear zone for streets with pedestrian-designated zones. The landscape/furniture zone requires 6' minimum width across street types. Downtown and urban center connector streets require 8' minimum for FTN streets. Neighborhood yield streets can have a 5' minimum if the land use code requirement means that the right-of-way is 40 feet. Urban curbless requires 12' for the landscape/furniture zone. Neighborhood curbless requires 12' for streets with one sided sidewalks.
Landscaping and Furniture Zones of Sidewalks
Bike Parking Diagram thumbnail
Bike Parking Diagram

Data Dashboard

The below dashboard shows a summary of the trip and fleet size data we use to inform permit compliance, program evaluation, and broader transportation planning purposes. If you have any questions about the data, please reach out to us at BikeShare@seattle.gov.

General Bikeshare Feed Specification

Additionally, we are making a new source of open data available for bike share in Seattle. These data are accessible by API, and each company operating in Seattle will host its own API feed as a requirement of their permit terms. Details on the data specification, called the General Bikeshare Feed Specification (GBFS) can be found here, with current URLs listed below.

Lime Feeds

Whom do I contact with questions or comments?

If a bike is improperly parked or needs maintenance please let us know by reporting it to us through our Find It, Fix It App, our Online Web Portal, or by phone at (206)684-ROAD. We immediately forward these reports to our micromobility partners for a quick response.

If you are involved in a collision and if somebody is injured and you need emergency assistance, dial 911. File a collision report online with the Washington State Patrol. Report the collision to the company and let them know if the bike needs to be repaired or removed from service.

You can give us feedback about the bike share program by filling out this form. 

If you are a bike share company and have questions or are interested in obtaining a permit please contact the SDOT Bike Share Program at bikeshare@seattle.gov. Residents with questions and comments may also email  bikeshare@seattle.gov.

SDOT Free-floating Bike Share Permitting Archive