By Stephen Braitsch

Published December 17, 2024

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In April 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, my friend Sam said to me, “Hey, what do you think about creating a website that helps essential workers get to work by connecting them with people who have unused bikes sitting in their garage?” A friend of his in Washington D.C had just created a similar project, inspired by Transportation Alternative’s recently launched Bike Match program in New York City. I immediately loved the idea and said “What if, instead of just supporting San Francisco, we create a platform that any organization in the country could join?” And thus, Bike Match Network was born.

After 3 days of designing and coding, Sam and I launched Bike Match Network on April 10th, 2020. Our first few matches were made in partnership with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition as Sam helped me onboard bike shops and advocacy organizations across the country. Within a few weeks, we had 16 organizations join BMN, who together have connected 321 people in need with free bikes over the past four years.

28

AUGUST

Bike Easy

New Orleans, LA

23

MARCH

Bikes Not Bombs

Boston, MA

12

JULY

Bike Easy

New Orleans, LA

20

DEC

Bike San Diego

San Diego, CA

28

JUNE

Bike Easy

New Orleans, LA

17

JANUARY

Bikes Not Bombs

Boston, MA

01

AUGUST

Bike Easy

New Orleans, LA

11

JUNE

Bike San Diego

San Diego, CA

04

JUNE

Bike San Diego

San Diego, CA

13

JULY

Bike Easy

New Orleans, LA

8

AUGUST

Bike Easy

New Orleans, LA

The website prompts you to select a participating city and provides intake forms to either request or donate a bicycle. Partner organizations are provided with an admin panel that allows them to easily match requests with donations and the platform automatically emails participants instructions on how to drop off or bike up their bike. To add a bit of playful competition, we created a leaderboard that shows the number of requests and donations each organization has received alongside the matches they’ve made.

Now as the pandemic fades into the past and public transit ridership in many cities returns to pre-pandemic levels, we’ve decided it’s time to sunset Bike Match Network and take a moment to celebrate the amazing work our partners have accomplished over the past four years.

We’re incredibly proud of the impact Bike Match Network has had on the lives of so many people. Sam and I deeply thank everyone who participated for making this project such a wonderful success and one we’ll look back on proudly for many years to come.

David Mesa, Community Programs Coordinator at Bike Easy in New Orleans, wrote a lovely retrospective about their experience with Bike Match Network. Bike Easy was a founding partner of Bike Match Network and had been instrumental in making the project such a success.

"During quarantine my bus stopped coming in the morning so I was walking 50 minutes to work every day. When I got the email saying that I was matched, I was so elated I squealed! This bike makes me feel so much more secure getting to and from where I need to go."

Beck R.

"We were really proud to be part of the Bike Match program and help folks get connected to safe transportation options during the pandemic. Thanks again for all of your efforts to make it happen."

Kéya Joseph

Director of Events

Bike Pittsburgh

"I found the bike match program when my bike was stolen outside of West Penn Hospital. Being a healthcare worker going through the stress of COVID-19, the bike ride to and from work was really my saving grace for trying to level myself. I'm very grateful for the support."

Rachel S.

"Launching Bike Match in Boston was an incredible opportunity to support essential workers with a sustainable and immediate transportation solution. It was inspiring to see how donated bicycles transformed challenges into possibilities for so many people during the pandemic."

Gary Chin

Directory of Community Engagement

Bikes Not Bombs