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New York Citibikes
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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

6/18/13 1:15 PM

New York Citibikes

I guess this is pretty new, but do any of you denizens of Gotham have a feel for how this program is working? My niece has signed up and is riding them around Manhattan. She describes it as "terrifying" (with a smile). She is a runner but not an experienced cyclist. The bikes look pretty well thought out to me. Any thoughts on the program?

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Steve B.
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Posts: 769
Location: Long Island, NY

6/18/13 1:53 PM

There's been a running thread on another site with comments from a guy whose been using it on a regular basis. His comments detail some occasional burps in the software that prevents taking a bike out, or won't correctly log it in, so growing pains. It's not really cheap, you rent for +$10 a day for unlimited 30 minute rides, so it assumes you need to use it a few times per day to be cost effective. I also read some issue with solar powered machines being flaky, trees, clouds, bad batteries, skyscrapers, etc...

The NY Daily News actually reports it as a success, which is interesting as they are an anti-cycling paper otherwise.

One comment was if you see a station packed with bikes, or none, chances are the computer is not working and won't let you take out or return.

It's somewhat designed as I read, for the "last mile" of transportation, between a subway/bus stop and your destination, as example.

Seemingly +250,000 users in 2 weeks, so taking off like gangbusters.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-citi-bike-bike-share-program-successful-article-1.1374368

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

6/18/13 2:11 PM

I haven't used it (nor plan to since I have a beater bike for that purpose)


quote:
It's not really cheap, you rent for +$10 a day for unlimited 30 minute rides, so it assumes you need to use it a few times per day to be cost effective.

Not really. If you have to take a cab, it'll be more than $10 dollars anyway.

More typical New Yorker's day is going one place for a few hours, then go some place else for another couple hours, a third place for 1/2 hr and go home. That's like 4-5 trips on the subway that would add up to be over $10 if you don't have a monthly pass. This reminds me of the (now discontinued) daily MTA pass price. It took into consideration of the typical break even point of 4 trips on the subway/buses.

You're likely to be as fast, if not faster, in getting to your destination than waiting around for subways and buses running on sparsely mid-day or worse, weekend schedule.

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sanrensho
Joined: 20 Feb 2004
Posts: 835
Location: North Vancouver

6/18/13 4:12 PM

In the Daily News article, is the intern's helmet on backward or is this a new Internet meme?

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ErikS
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Slowing boiling over in the steamy south, Global Warming is real

6/18/13 4:23 PM

A New Yorker I correspond with often said he plans on using them and bought the yearly pass. No word yet on his experience. The helmets in the pictures are just props for the pictures. Hers is on backwards and his won't really go on because of his ball cap.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

6/18/13 4:39 PM

How much is the yearly cost? And are there like fines or surcharges assuming the time limits per use etc?

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JohnC
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Glastonbury, Ct

6/18/13 5:34 PM

95$ yearly, for unlimited number of rides up to 45 minutes. If you exceed the time, $2.50 for the next half hour, 6.50 for the next half hour, 9 for each following half hour.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

6/18/13 6:37 PM


quote:
A New Yorker I correspond with often

If it's who I think it is, helmets are something that don't concern him. ;-)

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Stanley83
Joined: 21 Jan 2004
Posts: 238
Location: The 'ville, Mass.

6/18/13 7:19 PM

My brother...

lives in NYC and is thrilled. Though he has a bunch of bikes, bike share allows him to take his kids to school then grab a bike and ride to work.

Last edited by Stanley83 on 6/19/13 5:10 AM; edited 1 time in total

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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3712
Location: Brooklyn, NY

6/19/13 1:32 AM

I've used it and intend to continue to use it. I think it's fantastic. Some growing pains, but that can be expected.

Their website, citibikenyc.com, has a daily blog that sets out the usage statistics. It's taking off. The last time I checked, there was one day when over 22,000 ride were taken. At $95 a year, it's a bargain.

There's also an app that you can use to find the nearest station with bikes and the nearest station where there is a dock available for a return.

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henoch
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 1690

6/19/13 7:52 AM

I haven't used it yet, but all of my friends that have used it have nothing but praise.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

6/19/13 8:05 AM

access

So I guess there must be alot of places to pick up bikes and drop them off?

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JohnC
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Glastonbury, Ct

6/19/13 8:39 AM

In midtown and lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn (the only service areas for now) there are 330 stations. 6000 bikes for now. There are plans to expand to at least double those numbers eventually.

Parkin, I just read that they had over 25,000 rides on Sunday. It looks like this may be a huge success. Let's see how the vandalism and theft go. Paris had a lot of trouble with that for a while.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

6/19/13 7:25 PM

Access is good

"So I guess there must be alot of places to pick up bikes and drop them off?"

Today is my first day in Manhattan since the program started. I see the station quite easily at street corners all over midtown Manhattan. Today being a rather nice day, the "stations" were about 1/2 filled. So there's no problem getting a bike had I needed one. Never actually saw anyone taking one out of the station. But saw quite a few of them rolling down the street.

Turns out one of my co-workers signed up for the yearly program already, after having checked one out for a taste. He actually figure out a way to use it for fun on the weekend besides using them for transportation during the week: ride for just under 1/2 hr, return the bike, duck into a Starbuck for a cup as a break, come back out and grab another one for another 1/2 hr. Repeat as many times as desired.

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rickhardy
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 1492
Location: Needham outside of Boston - the hub of the universe

6/20/13 8:57 AM

Same system and mgt as in Boston

Seems to work fine here and IIRC initially did not have the computer start up issues as there is in Manhattan...for what its worth....pretty popular here

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JohnC
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Glastonbury, Ct

6/20/13 9:54 AM

The latest news in NYC (perhaps the start of a trend) is a few companies announcing they will pay for employees' yearly memberships as a perk. Cheap for them, high-profile goodwill PR, and may get a lot more people to try the bikes.

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Evan Marks
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 1652
Location: NYC

6/20/13 9:24 PM

Casey Neistat nails it

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10z90c_citibikes-are-a-pain-in-the-ass_travel#.UcPHE8u9KSM

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

6/20/13 10:20 PM


quote:
may get a lot more people to try the bikes

And hopefully hooked on it convinience.

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JohnC
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Glastonbury, Ct

6/21/13 10:19 AM

Their blog gives a bunch of stats every day, and it's interesting to watch the growth. They broke another record yesterday, over 27,000 rentals (on a Thursday). Annual memberships are increasing by 500-800 every day, and are up to about 45,000 now.

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lrzipris
Joined: 04 Mar 2004
Posts: 532
Location: Doylestown, PA

6/21/13 11:11 AM

Tangentially

Evan, does that apartment and gate in that video look like Patchin Place? A storied address, I recall.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

6/21/13 11:23 AM

Hmmm

For $95 it might even make sense to get one for the couple times per year I visit...

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JohnC
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Glastonbury, Ct

6/21/13 12:01 PM

one-day pass is 10 bucks, 7-day 25. Both of those limit you to 30-minute trips to avoid additional charge (you get 45 minutes with the yearly).

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

6/22/13 8:57 AM

New York, New York!

http://www.thecrosbypress.com/2013/06/20/soul-cycle-for-homeless-people-is-apparently-a-thing-that-is-now-happening-in-new-york-city/

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

6/22/13 10:28 AM

That's great, backwards spinning classes for free! LOL

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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3712
Location: Brooklyn, NY

6/22/13 8:16 PM

Yesterday, they logged over 30,000 rides. And, today, total miles ridden exceeded 1,000,000, within the first 4 weeks of the program.

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