Thursday, October 5, 2017

CITI BIKE MILESTONE: MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES 50 MILLIONTH RIDE


North America’s largest bike-share system is expanding this fall into Astoria, Harlem and Prospect Heights

  Mayor Bill de Blasio, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and Jay Walder, President & CEO of Motivate announced that Citi Bike had achieved its 50 millionth ride since the system’s launch in May 2013. In 2017, Citi Bike, currently expanding to Astoria, Harlem and Prospect Heights, is on track to break last year’s record of 14 million rides. By this fall, the system will have doubled in size since 2014, from 6,000 to 12,000 bikes.

“In 2014, we committed to saving a struggling bike-share system and having it expand to more New York City communities,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.  “In almost three years since, the results speak for themselves: from Harlem to Red Hook, from Astoria to Bed-Stuy, those blue bikes have now become part of the fabric of our city -- and we can now look forward to the 100 millionth ride.”

“Fifty million rides is such an extraordinary number, it should be put in perspective: at more than two miles per trip, Citi Bike riders have now collectively bicycled more than 100 million miles -- the distance from earth to the sun!” said Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “With the boom in cycling, Citi Bike has also been a key to helping us reach our Vision Zero goals – as we have actually seen the positive effects of ‘safety in numbers.’ We congratulate our partners at Motivate for their unabashed success and for reaching this incredible milestone – and commit to working with them on bike share’s bright future here in New York.”

“When the Citi Bike program first launched in New York, 50 million rides seemed like an impossible goal – but New Yorkers don’t shy from a challenge,” said Jay Walder, President and CEO of Motivate, the company that operates Citi Bike. “Today, Citi Bike is a crucial component of our transportation network as more New Yorkers and visitors than ever take to two wheels. We are proud Citi Bike has become a fun, safe and equitable way to get around the city.”

As part of its 2017 expansion, Citi Bike is installing stations in Harlem and in the Queens neighborhood of Astoria, ahead of further expansion into Crown Heights and Prospect Heights in Brooklyn. The Citi Bike program continues to be the most widely used bike share system in the nation. Annual ridership has steadily increased year over year, as residents and visitors alike turn to the blue bikes to move around New York City. Riders took 8 million trips in 2014, 10 million in 2015, and almost 14 million in 2016. In 2017, riders are set to break the record once again – with a 19 percent increase in ridership so far this year.

Daily ridership continues to grow as well: the system, the largest among more than 50 bike share systems in North America, regularly records more than 60,000 rides per day in peak season. Riders recently set the new daily ridership record, clocking 74,428 trips on September 12. While individual bikes average seven uses per day, one bike recorded 36 trips over a single day in July. Since the system’s launch, Citi Bike riders have pedaled 102,366,046 miles and offset 53,230,343.92 pounds of carbon and counting.

Citi Bike’s Phase 2 expansion will be completed by the end of 2017, doubling the size of the network. Citi Bike has 10,000 bikes at over 600 stations, and will have 12,000 bikes at 750 stations by the end of this year. In addition to the aforementioned new neighborhoods, stations are currently located every few blocks in Manhattan as far north as 130th Street and in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Red Hook, Park Slope, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint along with Long Island City, Queens.

In 2014, the de Blasio Administration illustrated its commitment to a robust bike share system, successfully securing a new company, Motivate, to operate the system.  An infusion of private capital stabilized the system and improved service has led to growth and record ridership in the two years since.  This year’s installations complete the Phase 2 expansion, and the Administration is exploring new ways to bring bike share to more New Yorkers, including the Bronx and Staten Island.

The annual cost of a Citi Bike membership is $163 or $14.95/month with an annual commitment. NYCHA residents and members of select community development credit unions are eligible to receive discounted $5/month memberships.

Annual members receive an electronic key to undock a bike from any station, allowing unlimited trips up to 45 minutes without incurring any additional costs. Twenty-four-hour and three-day passes are available for purchase at any Citi Bike station or through the Citi Bike app and provide unlimited 30-minute trips. Reduced cost memberships are available for NYCHA residents and members of select credit unions throughout the city, and for IDNYC holders in their first year of membership.

Learn more at citibikenyc.com

EDITOR'S NOTE: 

50,000,000, that's right fifty million Citi Bike rides, and not one of them was in the Bronx. As you see in the above press release there are no plans in the near future to have any in the Bronx either. 

What does the Bronx have to do? Get a Bronx leader elected mayor in four years to get even a Citi Bike Ride? Is the Bronx being REDLINED by Citi Bike like Banks did many years ago?


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