Shift Your Ride

Fort Collins is a platinum-rated Bicycle Friendly Community with hundreds of miles of bike paths and lanes. Shift Your Ride helps you explore the city on two wheels or through micromobility options:

• In-person and online classes: Learn the rules of the road, bike safety and riding techniques.
• Bike Buddy Program: Connect with experienced cyclists to build confidence and explore bike-friendly routes.
• Explore the city: Use our interactive Bike Map to find the best routes to work, school and community events.
• Shared bikes and scooters: Spin is a shared service for short trips, with discounted rates available to eligible low-income residents.

Get around Fort Collins and beyond with reliable and affordable transit options:

Explore Transfort: Our transit system currently offers fare-free rides on fixed bus routes and dial-a-ride service.

• Pro tip: No convenient bus stop nearby? Consider driving to a park-and-ride lot and taking the bus the rest of the way.

How to Ride Transfort: Learn more about Transfort and take a free class.

• Pro tip: Ride your bike to the bus stop and park it securely or take it onboard.

Accessible Rides in Fort Collins: RideNoCo connects qualified residents with transportation options, including services for veterans, seniors and individuals with disabilities.

Outside Fort Collins: Explore regional bus services that connect with Transfort, such as FLEX, Poudre Express and Bustang. If you commute outside Fort Collins, ask your employer if they offer subsidies or allow you to make pre-tax contributions to help lower the cost of regional transit fares.

Discover convenient and cost-effective ways to share your ride and reduce congestion in Fort Collins.

• Vanpooling reduces the cost of commuting and cuts down on single-occupancy vehicle trips. The City's partner Commute with Enterprise offers a convenient, affordable and sustainable way to get around at reduced pricing for City of Fort Collins residents. Riders share vehicles such as SUVs, minivans or passenger vans, splitting costs that cover fuel, insurance and maintenance with 24-hour roadside assistance included.

Join the Shift Your Ride platform for access to special tools and rewards, making every trip more rewarding.

Platform features include:

• Carpooling: Find carpool partners and share rides with coworkers or neighbors. You'll reduce traffic congestion, enjoy lower travel costs, and  gain access to HOV lanes on regional highways, saving you time.
• Schoolpool: Connect with nearby families attending the same school to arrange safe, reliable carpools for the kids.
• Plan Your Trip: Helpful tools to plan, log and track your trips. Whether you're carpooling, biking or taking the bus, you can organize your commute and earn rewards along the way.

If you're interested in an e-bike, state programs offer point-of-sale discounts on qualifying purchases:

The Spin Access Program provides discounted rates to low-income residents for Spin e-bikes and e-scooters. 

If you're interested in electric vehicles (EVs), the State of Colorado offers incentives for EV purchases.

Programs like Charge Ahead Colorado and Fleet-ZERO offer grants for installing EV charging stations.

Driving alone remains the most common way to get to work, but 17% of employees already use other options.

Employees who live outside Fort Collins are more likely to drive alone. Men are more likely than women to bike to work. Half of all commuters travel more than five miles to reach their workplace.

Among all employees surveyed:

• 1 or fewer miles (7%)
• 2 to 5 miles (40%)
• 6 to 12 miles (27%)
• More than 12 miles (26%)

Half of commuters travel more than five miles. Construction/trade workers tend to commute longer distances.

The following data reflects the opinions of all employees surveyed, not just employees who already bike, asking how comfortable survey respondents would feel biking between their home and workplace.

Among all employees surveyed:

• Not at all safe (36%)
• Somewhat safe (39%)
• Very safe (25%)

For those who live in Fort Collins versus outside the city:

Living in Fort Collins 

• Not at all safe (20%)
• Somewhat safe (44%)
• Very safe (35%)

Living outside of Fort Collins

• Not at all safe (65%)
• Somewhat safe (29%)
• Very safe (6%)

Based on typical commute distance:

1 or fewer miles

• Not at all safe (16%)
• Somewhat safe (37%)
• Very safe (48%)

2 to 5 miles

• Not at all safe (19%)
• Somewhat safe (43%)
• Very safe (37%)

6 to 12 miles

• Not at all safe (35%)
• Somewhat safe (45%)
• Very safe (20%)

More than 12 miles

• Not at all safe (66%)
• Somewhat safe (28%)
• Very safe (6%)

Based on gender:

Female

• Not at all safe (39%)
• Somewhat safe (41%)
• Very safe (20%)

Male

• Not at all safe (30%)
• Somewhat safe (37%)
• Very safe (33%)

Biking to work comfort level differs by place of residents, commute distance and gender. Most employees who live outside of Fort Collins or have a long commute (more than 12 miles) feel unsafe biking to work.

Among employees who don't currently ride the bus, the most commonly cited barriers were:

• Bus stops are too far away (33%)
• Preference for other modes (27%)
• Busing takes too long (26%)
• Need to use a car during the workday (22%)
• Buses don't run frequently enough (21%)

Other common barriers included the lack of intercity bus service, needing to drive children and unfamiliarity with available routes. Seven percent of respondents said nothing prevents them from riding the bus.

The survey also asked employees what sustainable commute resources their employers currently provide — and what they value most. The most-desired offerings were:

• Bike racks (valued by 76% of employees)
• Remote work options (56%)
• Showers and changing rooms (51%)
• Enclosed, secure bike storage (36%)
• Compressed workweek schedules (20%)

Employees with higher household incomes tended to work for organizations that already offer more of these resources — suggesting an opportunity to expand access more equitably.