5 things about NYC’s new bike share program that seriously stump us
We’re really excited about CitiBike, the new bike-share system that’s set to launch this July and will literally transform the city landscape.
Cycling culture has been exploding over the past year, and this is just one more way that New York City is becoming a healthier (and greener) place to live.
But, after reviewing some of the specifics about CitiBike, we came up with more than a couple of logistical questions about how the new system will work.
Here are five things that seriously stump us about Citibike:
Add yours in the Comments, below, or, if you have answers, add those too!
1. You can only ride for 30 or 45 minutes before accruing late fees. There goes your leisurely ride up the East River bike path. Bike share is supposed to ease the stress of commuting, but we can’t help but picture frazzled New Yorkers zig-zagging dangerously through bike lanes in order to dock their bikes on time. Thank god the bikes don’t have horns.
2. The cheapest thing you can buy is a 24-hour pass, for $9.95. Since you’ll have to check in every 30 minutes at a docking station, you can’t pay for just 30 minutes? If you purchase a $95 annual pass, you’re good to go. If not, you’ve got to shell out for a full day (in which case, depending on where you’re going, a taxi may be cheaper).
3. There are no bikes in Astoria. Okay, this one is totally biased because the writer of this article might reside in said neighborhood. That being said, it really does look like an oversight. CitiBike says that in order for the system to succeed, it has to be centered around Manhattan’s Central Business District, with docking stations in densely-populated areas. That explains ignoring the Bronx (sort of) and Far Rockaway, for example, but Astoria is one of the closest neighborhoods to Midtown Manhattan.
4. We haven’t seen any construction. The Second Avenue subway won’t be done until we’re too old to climb the stairs, but CitiBike says it will be up and running in July, despite no signs of construction. We really hope that a magic bike fairy is going to drop 600 docking stations onto their designated spots without a glitch one night while we’re asleep. That would be awesome.
5. The cost to replace a bike is $1,000. Bikes are expensive, we get it. But $1,000 for a mass-produced version? Plan on toting yet another bag on the subway to carry your heavy lock. —Lisa Elaine Held
Forget Astoria – there’s nothing north of the 60′s in Manhattan, and nothing near Prospect Park. }
we have the same type of bikeshare in toronto, and just last weekend i used it for the first time! from what i can tell, here are a few details that might help iron out the confusion… firstly, the program seems to be designed either for commuters (annual pass) or sightseers (daypass). commuters will hopefully have to ride for 30 minutes or less to get from their home dock to their work dock, and sightseers can use the bikes to get from one attraction to another that’s relatively nearby. you shouldn’t lock the bike up with your own lock, ideally there will be enough docking stations (it seems that there are in toronto, and they all appeared pretty quickly!) that wherever you’re going, there will be a docking station nearby, and there will always be many stations within 30 minutes of each other so you don’t have to worry about incurring overage fees. if you want to take a longer ride, just stop halfway at a dock, park your bike, and you should be able to wait two minutes and then take out a new one to continue your ride. then dock the bike at your destination! as for astoria, i know that our docking stations are all centered around downtown toronto for now, but as the business grows, they expand more and more. hopefully one day there will be docks everywhere! It was really fun to buy a 24-hour pass, and then take our bikes from kensington market (toronto’s indie & hippie central) to the st. lawrence antiques market, to the beach, then to dinner, then home. we docked at each place & then grabbed another bike when we were ready to move on. and the best part was, because we started at 12noon on saturday, we still had the passes for sunday morning, so we biked to our favourite brunch place, docked our bikes, ate a delicious brunch, and then biked back! a well-spent 24 hours, indeed :)
I think it’s a big mistake if there are no helmets!!! You should have a vending machine to purchase a helmet and locks, who wants to walk around with all that!!!! Affordable
Lot of uninformed complaints here.
Overall, though, you seem to miss the point of bike share. In other cities, over 95 percent of rides are under 30 minutes. The whole point is to emphasize the SHARE part of bike share. If you’re looking for a leisurely ride up the East River bike path, rent a bike for the day.
I agree that not figuring out how to provide helmut’s to newbie bike riders in NYC is a big mistake and sets a bad precedent.
There’s no bikes south of Atlantic either, but they said that they’ll be there eventually. I’m sure they’ll get Park Slope and Astoria eventually if it’s a success.
These bikes are for transportation, not for leisurely rides–rent a bike if you want that! why would you carry a lock on the subway? you take out your bike, ride to the place you need to be, check it back in.
Yeah there are definitely some misconceptions here. Like you never need a lock for a share bike – you just dock it. Come back and get a new one when you’re ready to ride again. And from what I know there is no construction involved – they just drop the docks into place. They’ve been touring a sample docking station around the city this spring and it works with no connections of any kind. And also this seems to be a hard one for people to get, but you really do not ride share bikes outside the bike share zone – you just go from A to B within the zone. Given it’s size most rides in the zone would probably be under 45 minutes anyway so the time limit shouldn’t be much of an issue. And since they are rolling out a fixed number of bikes and stations in the launch, keeping stations spaced close together like they need to be limits the geographic footprint (to avoid gaps in service). Thus the zone must expand like a bubble staying connected to the core. To add Astoria they probably would have had to drop Bed-Stuy or Greenpoint for example and then you’d have gaps between Williamsburg and Fort Greene or Long Island City. Hopefully this thing catches on and in a few years they make to Astoria, Red Hook, Harlem, Crown Heights, etc.
From the citi website, a 3-hr rental using the 24-hr pass is $59 bucks. does that pricing keep people from riding for that long… not necessarily. I do think this is a great idea but for someone only wanting to go for a 1-2 hr ride (>$35) it is an easily accessible station that will compete directly with bike rental merchants (bike and roll for example). With tourism at peak levels, you will find the city’s bike lanes overloaded. Then those people that do use the bike lanes not for recreation are in a crowded lane of slow riders. I hope the best for this program but also fear what the side effects might be.
Articles such as this do absolutely NOTHING to educate the public on the benefits of a bike share system, and merely pin-point perceived problems that are complete misunderstandings of exactly how a bike sharing system functions. If your intention is to get people all angry about Citi Bike by misleading them and stirring up misplaced anger, congratulations.
I agree with Kyle. These bikes are not designed for everyday leisurely tours up the Hudson.
-The one time fee is reasonable for a tourist, plus overages to do a little sight seeing.
-These make for great cross town connections in Manhattan, short jaunts, and last miles at subway stations. Most people in NYC live within 5 miles of their workplace. Hello commuters.
-Astoria will eventually get it, but it makes the most sense to start in those areas nearest the city core first.