The streak continues: Now 9 straight weeks in the green zone

• So, in a bow to baseball, Citi Bike is batting .667. And the streak of keeping the number of empty stations in check stands at an unprecedented nine straight weeks.

• The week did have its moments -- an out-of-control Thursday (warmest day of the week) followed by a splendid recovery on Friday.

• Rainy hours on Thursday and Wednesday afternoon were not included in calculations.

The best social media rants (so far) over the sudden Citi Bike shutdown

Secret stash

3/27 7pm

Ari Paparo ‏@aripap  13h13 hours ago

If anyone needs a #citibike during this weekend's scheduled maintenance just DM me, I've got twenty in my apartment.

Stop whining

3/27 7pm

Abraham Abreu ‏@UrbanAbe  13h13 hours ago

Oh to live in a part of #NYC where the #CitiBike outage seriously affects my mode choice.

Expect Changes On The 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, A, C, D, E, F, J, M, N, Q, R & S Trains This Weekend

3/27 6pm

Brooklyn Trending ‏@BKTrending  14h14 hours ago

So that means f*cked up subways and no @CitiBikeNYC this weekend... #NYC #MTA #Citibike  http://gothamist.com/2015/03/26/look_out_you_rock_n_rollers.php … and http://tmblr.co/Z483Gn1gvdFWv

This is really good news

3/28 3 am

maria robinson ‏@mariaro482136  5h5 hours ago

"@AlwaysActions: Citi Bikers take note: the system is shutting down this weekend. http://ny1ne.ws/QPCd3t  @NY1"bwaaaahaha!!! Great! :-)

There’s more to this than meets the eye

3/28 1 am

Andrew Poretz ‏@coachandrew  7h7 hours ago

Incredibly poor planning and notification by @citibikenyc in their all-weekend shutdown. Something's wrong with this picture.

Woe is me

3/28 1 am

Chris ‏@blueneurosis  7h7 hours ago

Me: I think I'll do the Citi Bike commute after my shift tonight.
Citi Bike: The system is being shut down for the weekend for upgrades.

Some people are too nice

3/28 12 am

Kate Yan ‏@kateyyan  8h8 hours ago

@CitiBikeNYC thanks for the three day membership extension due to the closure this weekend.

Job-training program provides more than half of Citi Bike mechanics

To the story

An excerpt

Luckily for the operators of Citi Bike, there’s one consistent place they can turn for recommendations on new hires: Recycle-A-Bicycle, a community-based nonprofit that specializes in empowering youth through job training and environmental education.

Eleven of their 20 mechanics are alumni of a Recycle-A-Bicycle program, as are two of the five mechanic supervisors on staff.

Empty Citi Bike stations in green zone for a record 8th week

About the NotSpot Index

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• Tuesday turned to be an OK day after the morning rain, which makes the rare appearance of a day in the blue zone all the more remarkable.

• We’re becoming increasingly confident that new ownership is taking the NotSpot problem seriously. But let’s see what happens when we get a full week of Really Nice Weather.

Fleet size comes off January's low

Fleet size rebounded slightly after hitting a record low in January. In its February report, Citi Bike says fleet size will remain below average while annual maintenance continues.

One impact  of a smaller fleet is that each bike is getting worked harder. Last February, with a fleet above 5000, rides per bike per day hit a low of 1.5.  This February the fleet was 1500 bikes smaller. Total rides hit a record low and were 40,000 fewer than last February.  But rides per bike rose to 2.17 per day.

Empty Citi Bike stations down 35%, rebalancing up 164%: Looks like new owners are on the job

The number of stations that emptied out hit a record low in February. While that may come as not much of a surprise, the scope of the decline is. NotSpots dropped by 35% from last February.

And while last February’s number of bikes moved from station to station is the record low, 164% more bikes were rebalanced this time around.

Those are more indicators, along with our weekly NotSpot Index, that the system’s new owners are aggressively attacking the problem.

Note: The reported number also includes stations that are filled, but the system can go days without an instance of that happening.

Membership falls 10,000 below last year

Total membership is now running 10,000 below a year ago. While new members are tracking closely against the pattern set last year, renewals aren’t happening.

Our theory is that people who signed up last winter didn’t get much use out of the system and are waiting for spring’s arrival to renew.

Rebalance crews handle first pleasant weather with aplomb; NotSpot Index at record lows

About the NotSpot Index

• In the first week with some real bicycling weather, Citi Bike had but one bad day. The third straight day of temps in the 50s proved too much. NotSpots soared to 68 empty stations at 10:30 am Wednesday.
• Now at a record seven straight weeks in the green zone.
• Week 10 matched its 2014 counterpart.

Available bikes means the number of bikes in the docks. Fleet size would be the number of available docks plus the number of bikes being ridden at the time.

• What’s most intriguing is that Citi Bike is keeping the system relatively balanced with about 1,000 fewer bikes on the street.
• Crews ARE pumping more bikes into the system. Available bikes hit a high for the year on Thursday afternoon. And there’s been no spike in empty stations which would be a pretty good indicator that the fleet is too small.

What Citi Bike has done for Citibank

To the story

An excerpt

Citibank's popular New York City bike-share program, Citi Bike, taught the firm to step out of its comfort zone, stay true to its brand and experiment to keep fresh. Nearly two years in, the company continues to lean on the initiative to strengthen its brand image.

22% of Citi Bike stations empty at 9:30 am

White circles with borders are empty stations. Screenshot taken shortly after 9:30am

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First spring-like day and Citi Bike keeps it in balance

About the NotSpot Index

Last year, Tuesday March 11 was the first spring-like day and the Citi Bike system groaned under the task of getting bikes to empty stations. NotSpots hit 58 at 11:30 am -- that’s 18 percent of the system out of service. For the day, the NotSpot Index was in the red zone at 46.

Throughout the spring, Citi Bike service deteriorated until it hit a record high 96 NotSpots on May 27.

If Monday’s NotSpot number of 29 is a harbinger of things to come this spring, we’re looking forward to a delightful season.

What a ridiculous question! Of course Citi Bike should stay open year-round, say 80% in poll

So overwhelming were the results, we took the poll down. We had asked:

Should Citi Bike keep operating in winter?

POSSIBLE RESPONSES VOTES

Yes. Other modes of mass transit have their problems in winter, too.	28 (80%)
No. Too much damage to bikes and too many days when you can’t ride.	6 (17%)
Who cares? I ride Citi Bike Miami.	1 (2%)