BCycle President Bob Burns introduced a suite of products and software that surround the bike share user and ecosystem during the company's annual BCycle World conference in Madison, Wis.: BCycle Dash, a new smart bike; BCycle Dash +, an electric assist bike share bike; and a new mobile app that unifies bike share, making it easier than ever to incorporate bike share systems into public transit. BCycle is the first bike share company to integrate bike share with public transit in the U.S.

"Bike share should be simple, intuitive, and easy to use," Burns said. "We need to remove barriers for people to be able to access a bike. That is why we introduced these new products and mobile app to help make this possible."

BCycle Dash is an advanced smart bike that puts the rider at the center of the bikeshare experience. Unlike other smart bikes, BCycle Dash incorporates elements that firmly establish bikeshare as a critical component of a city's transit system offerings.

Among its many features, BCycle Dash has the ability to be docked on conventional bike racks, at existing BCycle stations, at its own Dash dock, next to a station, if there are no available docks or anywhere a bike can be docked. The bike also includes a head's up color touchscreen that highlights distance and time traveled, cost spent, and calories burned.

In addition, BCycle Dash features turn-by-turn directions that route riders to their destinations via a city's designated bike paths. The directions are clear and easy to read on a moving bicycle — or can be spoken to the rider. The bikes can also be accessed in multiple ways, including phone, fob keys, metro transit cards, and campus identification cards.

BCycle Dash + includes all of the same features as BCycle Dash in a fully-integrated electric assist bike model. The Dash docks can be upgraded to accommodate the electric bike; the bike has a center mounted motor for balance, control, and natural ride; and BCycle Dash + has an integrated lithium-ion battery.

Linking both of these bikes is a world-class mobile app that allows riders to sign up and pay for rides; instantly release the bike by typing the dock number into a mobile device; find out where they are located and where they want to go.

BCycle currently has more than 1,250 stations and 10,200 bikes on the ground in North and South America. All BCycle bikes are designed by Waterloo, Wis.-based Trek.