Citi Bike
 |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Owner | NYC Bike Share, LLC |
| Locale | New York City (Manhattan, northern Brooklyn, and western Queens); Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Transit type | Bicycle sharing system |
| Number of stations | 603 |
| Daily ridership | 38,491 (2016) |
| Website | citibikenyc.com |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | May 27, 2013 |
| Operator(s) | Motivate |
| Number of vehicles | 10,000 |
Citi Bike is a privately owned public bicycle sharing system that serves parts of New York City, and is the largest bike sharing program in the United States. Alta Bicycle Share was selected in September 2011 to develop and operate the system using PBSC Urban Solutions' BIXI-branded technology. The system is named for its lead sponsor Citigroup.
A bike share of some sort in New York City was first proposed in the New York City Department of Transportation's strategic plan for 2008. A bike share was studied in detail in a 2009 report and was deemed feasible, with an initial rollout planned for 2011. After a series of delays due to Hurricane Sandy and various technological malfunctions, the system opened to the public in May 2013 with 332 stations and officially with 6,000 bikes. In 2014, Alta Bicycle Share and the City of New York announced an agreement to expand and improve the Citi Bike program. Jay Walder, former chairman and chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, was named new chief executive of Bikeshare Holdings, which acquired Alta Bicycle Share. Citi Bike expanded to Jersey City, New Jersey, in September 2015, originally with 35 stations and 350 bikes, with an additional 15 stations and 150 bikes added the following year..
As of March 31, 2016[update], the total number of annual subscribers is 163,865. Citi Bike riders took an average of 38,491 rides per day in 2016. Citi Bike has 10,000 bikes from 603 stations, though by the end of 2017, it plans to increase its bike fleet to 12,000 and add 375 docking stations.
In an effort to reduce emissions, road wear, collisions, and road and transit congestion and to improve public health, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) researched alternative forms of transportation, publishing a strategic plan in 2008. According to NYCDOT statistics, 56% of all automobile trips within the city are under 3 miles (4.8 km) (with 22% under 1 mile (1.6 km) and 10% under 0.5 miles (0.80 km)), well within distances readily served by bicycle. To encourage residents to use bicycles more, the city committed to expanding bike lane miles, bike racks, and bike-parking shelters. In the 2009 bicycle share feasibility report, the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) recommended building out the system in three phases in the four most populous boroughs, but no timeline was made public. The city, which had already been encouraging cycling as transportation, decided to establish a bicycle share program of the kind that had seen success in other cities. In 2011, it selected Alta Bicycle Share to operate the bike share in New York City. Citi Bike was created as a public–private partnership operated by NYC Bike Share LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alta.
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