We’re at Eakins Oval getting ready to @RideIndego! pic.twitter.com/mh0WORcllT

— Bike Coalition Phila (@bcgp) April 23, 2015

Philadelphia entered the 21st Century at 11:30am yesterday as the city unleashed its very own bike share program. Today, and from now on, you can use bikes as a new form of public transportation to get around Philadelphia whenever you want. Memberships cost $15 per month; individual half-hour rides are $4, and lots of people are super psyched about it. Us included — or, perhaps especially.

We collected the news reports of yesterday’s happiness and posted it below. Almost all Philly media (and some others) were there to cover the good and the better, and you can read their accounts below.

Philadelphia Latest City to Launch Bicycle Sharing Program | AP

Philadelphia’s bike share program is finally rolling.

Mayor Michael Nutter launched the Indego system Thursday with a ceremonial ride in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Officials in the nation’s fifth-largest city say the program has 600 bikes and 70 docking stations that operate 24 hours a day.

 5 Best Moments from Philly’s New Bike Share Launch | Philly Mag

At the event, there was a giddy, impatient energy in the crowd, perhaps from waiting for all those years. There was dancing. There were cheerleaders waving pom-poms alongside dudes sporting bike caps and waxed mustaches. There was a DJ playing MJ. Oh, and there was a scary, unidentifiable aircraft.

Philly launches bike share with more locations coming soon [photos] | Newsworks

What was just a glimmer in the eyes of bicycle advocates a decade ago became a feasibility study in 2008, but put on hold during the economic recession. In the meantime, other major cities installed bike share programs as Philadelphia looked on.

“Philadelphia has learned a lot about what other systems are doing,” said Alex Doty, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. “The city put it’s own money into the game, rather than saying this has to be funded by outside sources. New York has had tremendous problems because they decided to not put any city money into the system.”

Philly Bike Share Program Shifts Into Gear | CBS

Chief of Staff Andrew Stober says the blue bikes will be docked in many Philly neighborhoods:

“Just like SEPTA, you ride it from station to station, stop to stop. We’ll have, by the end of next week, almost 70 stations around the city. Today we have nearly 60.”

 Can Philly Have Nice Things? Indego May Be the Ultimate Test | Philly Mag

Done right, the new service can become an integral part of the city’s transportation system. Done wrong — well, done wrong, it’ll be a hugely wasted opportunity. It’ll take the entire community, and not just bicycle riders, to make it a success.

PHILADELPHIA LAUNCHES INDEGO BIKE SHARE PROGRAM | ABC

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Philadelphia has been gearing up for a bike share for awhile, but today taking a spin around the city just got a whole lot easier.

The city launched its new bike share program, Indego, today.

The Inde part of the name refers to its sponsor, Independence Blue Cross.

Mayor Michael Nutter was among those to strap on a helmet and go for a test ride today.

700 bikes are now available at 60 docking stations across Philadelphia.

Indego expects to expand to 2,000 bikes at 180 stations.

Bike Share Comes to Philly With the Launch of Indego | Streetfilms

Bike-Share Comes to Philly With the Launch of Indego from STREETFILMS on Vimeo.

Scenes from today’s Indego bike share launch | Billy Penn

Indego Launch Fueled by Neighborhood Bike Works Youth | Generocity

As a result of a long series of conversations and hard work from all involved organizations, Neighborhood Bike Works has now established a three-year partnership with the organizations involved with the bike share. Youth from Neighborhood Bike Works will act as bike share ambassadors, representing the program at community events.

“That kind of partnership is something we’re just launching next month and hope to continue and elaborate on over the next three years,” said Kuyk-White.

Kuyk-White said that having low-income/no-income youths build and maintain bikes for the bike share, as well as represent the program, is in the community’s best interest.

“This community has been really excited and receptive and we’ve worked hard to work together to see why it’s not only in the youths interest, but in the interest of the city,” she said.

Having youth spread the word about bicycle transit to other youth and to underserved communities will only result in a healthier city now and in the future, according to Kuyk-White.