Citi Bike exec reveals likely expansion neighborhoods

An excerpt

The next phase of expansion will likely cover Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Long Island City, she said, followed by the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Crown Heights and Park Slope. “We do not have a timeline yet,” she said. “I know, I know.”

We get you river to river through the Financial District

So you’re cruisin’ along the East River and you think, this is so fine, I’ll round the Battery and ride the Hudson.  Except there’s no rounding the Battery.

That dot dot dot you see on the 2014 DOT Bicycle Map means “potential bike path” and it will stay “potential” until Pier A reopens. No one seems to know when that will be.

Meanwhile the combination of visitors, tour and commuter buses demands that you walk your bike along the dot dot dot. for several unpleasant blocks.

But don’t fret, river riders. There is a way. We road-tested the routes again this past weekend.

East River to Hudson River (black line)

• Start at the Old Slip & Front St station
• Head northwest on Old Slip, which becomes Williams St

• Left off Williams onto Pine St

• 1 block, right onto Nassau St

• 1 block, left onto Cedar St

• Take Cedar across Broadway and down the slope.

• The second block is pedx only, but bikes are OK. At end of block you will have to cross crowd line for the 911 memorial.

• You have no choice but to make a left onto Greenwich St.

• At tiny Carlisle St, where there's a boxing gym on the corner, make a right.

• Carlisle ends at West St. Make right and manuever to outside of taxi stand.

• Cross West at Albany St.

• Albany to South End Ave. Make right and you're on the bike lane.

Hudson River to East River (red line)

• From South End Ave, make left onto Albany.
• Cross West St (somebody had a lot of nerve naming this expressway a "street."), stay on Albany  to its end at Greenwich. Make a right.
• Left onto little Edgar St. for one block and left again onto Trinity Pl
• In a half-block turn right onto Exchange Alley.
• Exchange Pl. will take you across the heavily securitzed Wall St. Depending on crowds or cops you may have to dismount once or twice.
• Exchange Pl. ends at Hanover St. Make right
• Left onto Pearl St.
• Right onto Old Slip.
• Voila!

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From the media, Happy Birthday Citi Bike

Citi Bike improvements still in works on anniversary

An excerpt

"They're making some progress," Trottenberg told reporters. "We're hopefully negotiating a larger package which will really address some of the operational issues ... and how we go forward with expansion."

Advocates want Citi Bike in outer boroughs as service celebrates one year

An excerpt

"That's the No. 1 source of conversation 'Why isn't it in my neighborhood?'" said Ken Podziba, the CEO of nonprofit advocacy group Bike New York.

"New Yorkers are impatient, especially when they see how wonderful something is," he said.

AM New York gets behind increase in annual fee

An excerpt

The city and Alta are looking for a solution. One reasonable possibility is a fee hike -- especially for the $95 annual subscription. No one likes price increases -- but New York needs to keep this program rolling.

Citi Bike will be expanded to more parts of the city: official

An excerpt

Trottenberg called Citi Bike a “tremendous success,” adding: “New Yorkers have really come to embrace it.”

Although de Blasio has repeatedly said he won’t publicly fund the program, she said the administration has been working closely with Alta, the network’s private operator, to expand the program and help it make a profit.

Citi Bike Offers Dollar Rentals For One Year Anniversary

An excerpt
Despite their widespread misuse as draconian baby carriages and the people who just can't stop getting tangled up in the racks, the program has seen relatively few injuries and zero deaths. Thethreats of self-immolation and the naked art demonstrations have slowed to a trickle, mostly reduced to one man, crouched over a kerosene lamp in his darkened rent-stabilized apartment, firing off complaint after complaint to a sympathetic Post editorial board.

To the moon, Alice

A combination of 88 empties and eight filled gives us a new NotSpot record. The chart is showing astonishing (to us, anyhow) regularity -- now breaking records every week on the day after the weekend ends.

We can’t tell you how much we’re looking forward to the Fourth of July.

Week 20 summary

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

WEEK 20

66

WEEK 20

49

WEEK 20

48

WEEK 20

35

WEEK 20

38

Week 20 ended with a NotSpot 47, making it the second worst week of the year.

• Available bike count hit a record low 2776 on May 21. Average number of bikes in the docks for the week: 3517, down more than 150 from last week.

Here's the business model: Citi Bike contract subsidizes NYC

To the story

An excerpt

A little-noticed provision of a contract with Citi Bike's operator, Alta Bicycle Share Inc., requires the company to reimburse the city for parking revenue, since some of the docking stations for the system's bikes take up former parking spots.

Here's an assessment of bike-sharing programs nationwide

An excerpt

"Biking in a city puts smiles on people's faces, and airlines want to be associated with people having fun while traveling," said Andy Clarke, president of the Washington, D.C.-based League of American Bicyclists.

That fun has bubbled over to political and policy decisions in other cities.

"When Paris introduced their system a decade ago, it was striking how many mayors around the world said 'I want that,' " said Clarke.

On eve of Citi Bike birthday, a self-assessment

An excerpt

In one year, more than 104,000 Annual Members and 426,000 short-term pass holders took to the streets, pedaling a total of 14.7 million miles over the course of 8.75 million trips. That makes Citi Bike the most well-used system in the nation.

Comment

Pretty good history, some iconic pics and enough stats to fill all of today’s NotSpots. But it didn’t mention:

1) It’s losing money

2) It’s seeking increase in annual membership fee

3) the search for new outside investors

4) this blog.

Yes, the new Second Worst Week of the Year

Available bike count continues its drop

/5/23 update rebounded to 3800+

Monday's rebalancing and NotSpots

Total NotSpots*: 86

Total received bikes: 19

Total surrendered bikes: 38

Total NotSpots*: 39

Total received bikes: 8

Total surrendered bikes: 7

Available bike count hits new low for year

The number of bikes in the docks hit a record low of 2931 at 5:30 pm Monday.

Another Monday, another new Worst Day of the Year

Empty stations, day by day

Monday came in at a never-seen-before 66.  Total NotSpots (empty and full stations) hit a record 88 at 10:30 am. That's 27 percent of the system out of commission.

As you can see from the chart below,  this makes the fifth straight Monday in the red zone.

MONDAY
WEEK 20	66
WEEK 19	57
WEEK 18	55
WEEK 17	59
WEEK 16	48
WEEK 15	44
WEEK 14	48
WEEK 13	20
WEEK 12	29
WEEK 11	33
WEEK 10	35
WEEK 9	39
WEEK 8	41
WEEK 7	32
WEEK 6	44
WEEK 5	30
WEEK 4	35
WEEK 3*	18
WEEK 2	22
WEEK 1*	18
Asterisk indicates adverse weather conditions

Citi Bike workers trying to join union

TWU Local 100 — the transit workers union that tends to walk off the job every 20 years or so — is organizing Citi Bike workers into a chapter.

More than 50% of Citi Bike staffers already have signed authorization cards declaring their desire to be represented by Local 100. That’s more than enough signatures to seek formal recognition, either through an election or employer consent.

Week 19 Summary

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

WEEK 19

57

WEEK 19

49

WEEK 19

53

WEEK 19

39

WEEK 19

39

Carrying three days in the red zone made Week 19 the worst week of the year. A NotSpot 48.

Monday at 10 am saw a new NotSpot record -- 84 combined empty/full stations. That’s 26 percent of the system out of commission.

Of note:

• Hells Kitchen did not -- repeat, did not -- make the Top 10 worst neighborhoods list for the first time in 14 weeks.
• Brooklyn’s NotSpot hours -- the average length of time it takes a NotSpot to resume conducting business -- soared to 9.5 hours for the week. That’s the worst showing since mid-February when the system was in snow recovery mode.
• Average number of bikes in the docks: 3684, down more than 300 from last week. This is the fourth straight week of declines after a peak of 5100+

Worst week of the year for Citi Bike service

NotSpots and rebalancing, last 24 hours

DOT chief says she’s open to rewrite of Citi Bike contract

An excerpt

Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg on Thursday raised the idea of renegotiating the city's contract with Citi Bike's operator.

At a City Council hearing, Trottenberg said that she wanted a contract that was "a little simpler and streamlined" moving forward.

Crowdsource funding sought for bike-share airbnb model

An excerpt

Skylock owners can share the lock's passcode with other riders — and set a time limit on their access. Those features will be included in an app that'll be released along with the lock, Al-Kahwati says.

NotSpots and rebalancing: Thursday, May 15

Red icons = NotSpot stations

Blue icons = Stations that received bikes

Green icons = Stations that surrendered bikes 

Three days in the red zone: First time this year

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

WEEK 19

57

WEEK 19

49

WEEK 19

53

Here are the year-to-date charts

Post uses Alec Baldwin dust-up to press for NYPD crackdown on bicyclists

An excerpt

We hold no brief for Alec Baldwin. But he has a case that he’s been singled out. If the NYPD is going to ticket him for riding his bike the wrong way down a street, the cops should be writing hundreds of tickets every day for all those self-entitled New Yorkers who behave as a law unto themselves once they get atop their bicycle seats.

May 14 maps

Red icons = NotSpot stations

Blue icons = Stations that received bikes

Green icons = Stations that surrendered bikes

Available bike count hits record low

The available bike count, i.e. the number of bikes in the docks at a point in time, hit a record low for the year  -- 3011 at 5:30 pm yesterday.

May 13 maps

Some data from May 12. Most 1 am to 10 am May 13

Red icons = NotSpot stations

Blue icons = Stations that received bikes

Green icons = Stations that surrendered bikes

Wrap your brain around this one: A foldable bike helmet

An excerpt

English inventor Jeff Woolf came up with the idea of the first fold-flat bike helmet after noticing that many cyclists using European bike shares were going helmetless. He discovered that most who shunned helmets did so because they said they were too bulky to be conveniently stowed between rides.

You can breathe easy now; data feed restored

Screenshot at 10:30 am

Looks like it returned to normal at around 1 am today

We looked at the software code and this is what we found

An excerpt

...whose ravaged carcass was left abandoned outside an East Harlem apartment, has been relieved of its tires and some elements of its handlebars, which makes no sense—the tires are not only huge, they're inflated with nitrogen and are not at all a feasible substitute for standard bike tires.

What's with Mondays? Another NotSpot record

"
Set a new record Monday -- 84 NotSpots at 10 am. 75 empty and 10 full.  26% of operating stations down.

Week 18: Another maddening Monday, followed by improvement

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

WEEK 18

55

WEEK 18

44

WEEK 18

38

WEEK 18*

17

WEEK 18

24

For the week, a NotSpot score of 35, which we translate as pretty mediocre service.

The pattern that’s emerging -- miserable Mondays followed by gradual improvement across the week -- makes us think that we have been giving too much credit to the weather for spikes in ridership, leading to spikes in NotSpots.

MONDAY
WEEK 18	55
WEEK 17	59
WEEK 16	48
WEEK 15	44
WEEK 14	48
WEEK 13	20
WEEK 12	29
WEEK 11	33
WEEK 10	35
WEEK 9	39
WEEK 8	41
WEEK 7	32
WEEK 6	44
WEEK 5	30
WEEK 4	35
WEEK 3*	18
WEEK 2	22
WEEK 1*	18

Instead, as a follower of this blog commented in this post, we now suspect there’s something about weekend use that scrambles the system for Monday morning riders. We’re starting to track rebalancing. But it’ll be a cold day in Hells Kitchen before, as the follower suggests, we track weekend patterns. On Sundays, we’d rather be biking along the Hudson.

Of note:

• Record 77 empty stations at 10:30 am Monday
• First time since Week 2 that the W 54 St & 9 Ave station has not been on the Top 10 NotSpot list. Maybe the blog devoted to it is having an impact.
• Three more stations dropped out of contention for the Gaynor Award. There are now 26 remaining station’s where we’ve not recorded a single NotSpot hour.
• Average number of bikes in the docks: 3992, down more than 350 from last week.This week’s King of All NotSpots is in Chinatown. The Pike St & E Broadway station racked up 25 hours empty.