If penalty fees = half of day-pass rent revenue, is the business model ethical?

Link to this vizualisation

This viz tracks New York City’s Citi Bike revenues collected from selling day passes against the revenue made from imposing penalty fees. The proportion peaked in May when penalties hit 61 percent of sales revenue. In October, that number was 54 percent.

Year to date, NYC Bike Share has collected $1.8 million from pass purchasers. That’s 10% of all revenue before sponsorships.

We continue to maintain that when penalties become a significant revenue stream, something’s wrong with the model.