Bicycle Sharing
On Memorial Day weekend, New York City installed what turns out to be the most transforming facility since I moved to this fine town 14 years ago: Citibike.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, Citibike is a bike sharing program comprising of 6000 bicycles spread over 330 docking stations. Most of you must have seen similar set-ups in cities like Paris, London, Brussels and other North American cities like Montreal, San Francisco or Chicago. For now the New York program covers Manhattan below 59th Street and parts of Brooklyn. Eventually we should have almost double the current station availability, which will make it one of the largest bike sharing programs worldwide.
Now, in typical New York fashion, there are plenty of detractors, claiming that the only thing New Yorkers are happy to share are STD’s…They complain about the look, the station locations, even the fact that the program has a corporate sponsor. The 2 sponsors are covering all the expenses and are paying close to USD 50 million for a 5 year contract. Revenues are shared with NYC. Sounds like a win-win for all involved.
Practically it works as follows: it costs $95 a year to join the bike share program, $25 for a weekly membership or $9.95 for a 24 hour membership. Annual members will get to use the bikes for up to 45 minutes at no charge, which daily members will get to use them for up to 30 minutes for free. This to avoid that people will take them up to their apartment overnight or even out of town. No problem however, docking your bike and immediately picking up another one, so the time limit is really not that inconvenient.
The first few weeks saw plenty of growing pains, especially for those without the annual membership: the touch screen system at the docking stations is not user friendly, customer service even less so. But once you have your key, you’re in business.
If you are a resident of Manhattan (below 59th Street) or “close to the waterfront” Brooklyn, this program increases your standard of living tenfold. Besides the exercise factor, there simply is no better and more enjoyable way to navigate the City. Only this morning I left my East Village pad early for a quick breakfast at the World Financial Center, pedaled back home, cleaned myself up and biked to the office in Midtown. All errands, appointments, dinners are now pursued on 2 wheels. Judging by the amount of people you see in stores, museums, restaurants carrying helmets, the program seems to be successful. So much so, that lately I have been struggling to find full stations at my place of origin and empty ones at my destination. However the sponsors have picked up on this and are increasing the bike repositioning.
The traditional City cyclist seems a little wary of the increased traffic, evidenced by the occasional shout or bell ringing, but even they will realize that more cyclists will mean more bike paths and more awareness from non-cyclists. You would think that cars, trucks and especially taxi’s are the biggest hazard for Citibike users, however it turns out to be the pedestrians, who totally ignore bike lanes, traffic lights and road crossings. So be careful out there, and stick to the avenues with dedicated bike lanes: 1st and 2nd on the East side, 8th and 9th on the West side and Broadway cutting across. As far as streets are concerned, stick to the smaller ones with bicycle signage.
Of course, New York, would not be New York if I could not leave you with a few parting images:
Enjoy!
