Nice Ride Minnesota launched the largest public bike sharing system in America on June 10, with 65 stations spread across the city, housing 700 bikes.

Sign up for a 24-hour to year-long subscription with your credit card online or at a station. 1-year and 30-day subscribers receive a Nice Ride key that makes using the system even easier to use. One-year subscribers also receive a coupon booklet within their User Manual worth roughly $500. If you like deals like free dinner at Common Roots Café, free lunch at Lucia’s, free brunch at Butter Bakery or 50% off almost every theater in town, you’ll dig the rest of the coupons.

Subscription rates are:
$60 Â Â Â = Â Â Â 1-year (online)
$50 Â Â Â = Â Â Â Student 1-year (online)
$30 Â Â Â = Â Â Â 30-day (online)
$5 Â Â Â = Â Â Â 24-hour (at the station)

So the time has come, and you want to hop on a gorgeous green bike to grab something different to eat on your lunch hour, soak up some rays and get a little exercise while you’re at it. Walk to a station, swipe your credit card at the pay station to pay for your 24-hour subscription, print out your access code and find the bike that seems to scream your name. Adjust the seat to the proper level for you, and remember your seat number for future Nice Ride excursions.

Punch the access code into the number pad to the left of the bike. Skip the pay station altogether if you have a 1-year subscription, and simply insert your Nice Ride key in the slot to the left of the bike.

Once the light above the keypad has turned green, yank the bike out and get pedaling. There’s no need to roll up your pant legs, or wear spandex; the bike is fully self-contained so that riders can even wear dresses! Did we mention there are built-in lights and a rack on the front so that you can bring your leftovers back to the office for your coworkers to drool over?

Once you’ve removed the bike from the dock, the first 30 minutes of every trip is paid for. If you don’t stop at a station the trip fees below will apply.

But wait, 95% of Minneapolis riders have avoided these trip fees.
How’d they do it?

Every time you dock the bicycle into place and the light turns green, your trip has ended. So if you want to keep riding around the city all day, just dock the bicycle within 30 minutes and take the same bike out again, either with your Nice Ride key, or by swiping your credit card again for a brand new access code at no additional charge.

The trip fees keep folks from keeping the bikes in their offices, garages or cars. Trip fees are incentives to keep the bikes in circulation and available to you when someone else isn’t using it.
Have a Nice Ride!