Citi-Bike- Page 5

[Addison D.]

Posted: 2/28/14 at 3:24pm

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/28/14 at 3:35pm

I've never seen a Citi-Bike user with a helmut, which always makes me wince. The first guy I ever saw using one was horizontally holding an iPad that had no case in his right hand while riding on a congested avenue without a helmet. New Yorkers are so badass.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 10:24am

Story in the WSJ this morning reporting on financial difficulties threatening the CitiBike system.

The main issues include:

"operational difficulties"--"moving the bikes to respond to the patterns of commuters...has been more cumbersome than expected in NYC traffic...";

The need to manually change the batteries at 50 of the docking stations every night;

Non-functioning kiosks;

Repairs/losses resulting from Sandy;

Revenue from tourists is below expectations, while annual memberships--which provide minimal revenue--are far above expectations;


This is so aggravating. I'm a member and a huge advocate/fan/supporter of the program, and I want it to survive. Were any actual New Yorkers involved in planning this? Is ANYONE who lives here surprised by the massive flow of bikes from the UES to Wall Street (sorry--FiDi) every week-day morning? Furthermore, is ANYONE who lives here surprised that there is traffic in mid-town that would make driving a flat-bed truck loaded with bicycles difficult? That traffic is PRECISELY WHY NEW YORKERS RIDE BIKES. Duh.

I was, and remain, skeptical that tourists are going to use the program in great numbers. Tourists have kids and they carry huge 'American Girl' shopping bags and they tend to be--forgive me for pointing it out--rather full-figured. These are not cyclists.

New Yorkers, on the other hand, know how to work the system, know their way around, and are JUST the kind of vigorously healthy, attractive, stylish and bargain-savvy crowd to jump on an annual membership for a bike-share program which will make their commuting and bar-crawling and Sundays in the Park easier to enjoy.

Even Sandy--while not specifically predictable--should not have been a surprise. We have rough weather here, and vandalism and theft. The bikes and the docking stations needed to be super-duper sturdy and there needed to be plans for repair/replacement.

I've included a link to the article, although the Journal has a pay wall.





WSJ article

Updated On: 3/21/14 at 10:24 AM