E-bike charging, lockers and rentals on one app in north Denver

Giving someone an e-bike is the easy part. The harder question is where the bike goes when the ride ends.

Smart Commute, the nonprofit transportation management organization for the north Denver metro, learned this through its Qualified-Income eBike Program. Riders had the bike. They still needed a safe place to leave it at work, at the bus stop or wherever they were headed.

Its answer is the Smart eHub. Since June 2025, three hubs in Northglenn, Thornton and Westminster have offered free e-bike charging and secure bike parking. Bikeep docks and Dero smart lockers stand side by side, and one app runs all of it.

The Smart eHubs are delivered by our partner Dero, which tells the story in its Smart eHubs case study.

E-bike charging and secure bike lockers at three north Denver hubs

Every hub has a five-dock e-bike charging station. Two of them add secure bike lockers for riders who want the whole bike enclosed.

• Northglenn Recreation Center in Northglenn, with five charging docks and two lockers
• The bus plaza at Denver Premium Outlets in Thornton, with five charging docks and two lockers
• A hub in Westminster with five charging docks

That makes 19 secure spaces, all free to use. At the outlets, the docks sit under the bus plaza canopy, so a rider can lock up and step onto a bus. At Northglenn, docks and lockers share a solar canopy outside the recreation center.

One app for docks, lockers and e-bike rentals

Riders use the same Bikeep app at every hub, whatever hardware they park in. The sign at each hub walks first-timers through it in four steps. Find the station on the map, scan the QR code, pick a free spot and lock the bike.

The same app runs Smart Commute's eBike Library. Library e-bikes are rented and returned through the Bikeep docks. So a hub that charges a commuter's own e-bike can also lend one to someone who wants to try riding first.

The operator side is just as simple. Smart Commute's program manager looks after the docks and lockers at all three hubs from her smartphone. Mixed hardware on one system is what lets a small team run a multi-site program. Riders have taken to the app too. 98% of all uses start there, and the rest use an RFID card.

More than 120 riders and a growing group of regulars

Bikeep platform data shows how riders used the Smart eHubs between June 2025 and November 2026.

• More than 120 riders used the hubs through the app.
• More than 50 of them came back for at least one more ride.
• Together they used the hubs more than 1,300 times.
• September 2026 brought 27 riders, the most of any month so far.
• 41 of the 45 ratings riders left in the app are five stars.

Repeat use is the number that matters here. A one-off try shows curiosity. Coming back shows the hub fits into someone's week. One rider left this note after using a locker at Northglenn.

"Really great and easy-to-use bike storage, and there is also an e-bike charging station. The app is really easy to use as well. I really appreciate the wonderful, safe way to lock my bicycle up."

Rider review in the Bikeep app, Northglenn Recreation Center

Solar e-bike libraries for more US communities

Smart Commute treats each hub as a lesson for the next. What riders say and do at one site shapes the design, placement and features of the next, adjusted to local travel patterns and nearby transit.

The model travels well beyond Colorado. Any city bike parking program eventually reaches the same last step. Riders need a safe place to leave the bike and a way to charge it, close to the bus and the places they already go.

Bikeep and Dero plan to deliver similar solar-powered e-bike libraries in more US locations. Like the north Denver hubs, they would put charging, secure parking and e-bike rentals in one place, with every site on one app.