Helmet laws are a veiled attempt to kill bike share, as evidenced by the helmet law introduced by pro car, anti bike lane and safe streets city councilman David Greenfield. Though in Liu's case, I think he was actually just grandstanding, trying to make a mark for himself as a mayoral candidate at the height of the bike share pre-launch frenzy. He's no friend of bikes, but I don't think he really cared that much.

I like the final sentence: But as an annual member, he said he had just one serious complaint. “The Citi Bikes come in only three speeds,” he said. “Slow, very slow and ultraslow.”

That pretty much sums up my experience.

I just saw an ad on craigslist selling a Citi bike:

Reply 9d788-4158896311@sale.craigslist.org[SUP] [?][/SUP] flag [SUP][?][/SUP] : miscategorized prohibited spam best ofPosted: 2013-10-29, 12:18PM EDT
[h=2] Citibike for sale - $150 (Lower East Side)[/h]













© craigslist - Map data © OpenStreetMap






Citibike for sale. Let me know if you are interested.

• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Posting ID: 4158896311
Posted: 2013-10-29, 12:18PM EDT
Updated: 2013-11-10, 4:52PM EST
email to a friend

Avoid scams, deal locally! Do NOT wire funds (Western Union, Moneygram).
Beware cashier checks, money orders, shipping, non-local buyers/sellers. More info

I guess that's like selling a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge.

I almost forwarded this to Citibike, but decided I didn't want to get involved.

Err, and why exactly would anyone want to own a Citibike?

Update from Citibike:

https://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=...e&e=ddaa3f7447

Quote:

"5 Months, 5 Million Miles
Since Citi Bike launched, riders have taken over 5 million trips and average over 35,000 trips each and every day. That shakes out to about six trips per bike per day - a lot! Each Citi Bike sees more trips per day than London’s Barclays Cycle Hire, even though London boasts 558 docking stations and 7,600 bikes, compared to New York's 332 stations and 6,000 bikes…"

I've decided that bike share was made for winter. First, the fair weather cyclists have gone away, so it's much easier to find a bike, or a parking space, when I need one. And it's easier to deal with bike share than my own bike in bad weather like today. I have the option not to ride home if the weather gets worse (not that it's going to tonight). And I get to get someone else's bike dirty.

I'd sign up, but while I live in the served area, my rides almost always take me out of it.

[TABLE="width: 960"]
[TR="bgcolor: #EDEFEF"]
[TD]6927758[/TD]
[TD]8 Ave & W 33 St[/TD]
[TD]12/4/13[/TD]
[TD]Broadway & W 51 St[/TD]
[TD]12/4/13[/TD]
[TD]34m 45s[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #D4D3D3"]
[TD]6929059[/TD]
[TD]Broadway & W 51 St[/TD]
[TD]12/4/13[/TD]
[TD]Broadway & E 22 St[/TD]
[TD]12/4/13[/TD]
[TD]54m 45s[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EDEFEF"]
[TD]6933107[/TD]
[TD]Broadway & E 22 St[/TD]
[TD]12/4/13[/TD]
[TD]8 Ave & W 31 St[/TD]
[TD]12/4/13[/TD]
[TD]21m 23s[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Looks like I got in an hour and ten minutes of riding , last time I went to Manhattan. Hey, Heads Up: If you want to check your mileage or elapsed time, the site only keeps the data for month. This checks out at 9.4 miles of distance, so it was rather slow, traffic was very heavy, it was tree lighting day at Rockerfeller Center, "Gridlock Alert Day".

Why is there a spike of annual membership sign-ups and 7-day pass purchases on 1/19/2014? See system data

Did they offer a Groupon? Or is it a bug?

When I looked online to find a Citibike last week when it was still cold, I was surprised to see that most kiosks were empty. Have they taken some out of circulation for the winter? It just seemed strange that I couldn't find one when you don't see many people out on them.

Very possible, for maintenance. I saw a few people riding them today (fenders coated with mud), and the stations were very empty.

I heard something to that effect, it was reported on 1010 WINS Radio, that many bikes were being kept in the warehouse in Brooklyn, to protect them from the weather (snow).

You can see the total number of bikes in docks here (click on "Show Graphs" on the lower right):

https://bikes.oobrien.com/newyork/

Before the last month of storms, that number peaked at about 5500, and now at around 3500, so something like 2000 bikes are off the streets (though it looks like just last night they put a couple of hundred back).

In case some of you don't go to the A&S often and might be interested in this...

Various news outlets are suggesting a rate hike is coming.

https://gothamist.com/2014Despite fevered assurances that the bankruptcy of Citi Bike tech manufacturer Bixi would not impact business, it seems the bike share program is having some financial difficulties of its own. Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg revealed yesterday that the program may be forced to increase its generally affordable rates in order to stay solvent.
“We’re talking to them,” Trottenberg said yesterday, according to the Daily News. “I would put it this way — all options are on the table. I think everyone agrees it turned out to be a real bargain for New Yorkers, who used the system twice as much as users of other cities.”

Currently, a Citi Bike annual membership costs $95, and a 7-day pass costs $25 and a day pass is $9.95.
/03/07/citi_bike_rate_increase.php

Maybe because of the lawsuit?

Apparently someone feels the same way and figured out a way to add an electric motor to a citibike.

How It Feels to Ride an Electric Citibike

The next thing that surprised me was the speed. First, there's the installation. I watched in awe as Guida converted a regular old Citibike into an electric bike in approximately four seconds. By the fifth second, my ass was in the saddle. Then came the real fun. For legal reasons, the ShareRoller won't engage when you're at a standstill, so I had to pedal a couple of times before I could engage the 1.0 horsepower motor with a handlebar-mounted throttle. But, when I pushed the button, it felt like I'd been given superpowers. In a matter of moments, I was going 18 miles per hour while barely pedaling. I seriously laughed out loud at the sensation.

Pretty neat data visualization showing use by riders with annual memberships vs. those buying a daily/short term pass. I don't know why they are so surprised to see the bikes being used by people as mass transit alternatives. I can't wait to get back to trading in the subway for a bike ride. Soon enough the weather will be consistent enough to make the switch (for me).

https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...=nyregion&_r=0

[h=1]The Collateral Damage of NYC’s Bike Share Program: Bike Shops (Bloomberg)[/h]"But the perverse byproduct of Citi Bike's popularity is its impact on bike stores like McCorkell’s. The very institutions that should be riding the success of a newly bike-friendly city are getting doored by it instead. For the neighborhood bike shop, declining sales are an unintended consequence of a program that most people seem to love."

It's true. I am not happy about this. To be honest, the rates for Citibike are too low. $95 a year? That's a no-brainer.

I started using it last week. I made five trips on Friday! I still ride my own bikes most of the time, but Citibikes are handy.

I took one into Central Park today and found out how really, really slow they are. I usually zip around the park, congestion permitting, but even kids were passing me. You just can't get them going and keep them going.