Citi Bike expanded service
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in a press
release on Nov. 29 that New Yorkers
will soon see a dramatic expansion in
Citi Bike across the city. The number of
new bikes and biking docs to come to Queens has
yet to be determined.
“New York City is one of the world’s great
biking cities – and it’s about to get even bet-ter,”
said de Blasio. “This expansion means
tens of thousands more New Yorkers are
going to have a fast and inexpensive way to
get around their city. It also means much more
reliable service for all the riders who already
use Citi Bike.”
The mayor reached an agreement with Lyft that
allows the ride sharing company to acquire Motivate,
Citi Bike’s parent company. the nation’s largest bike
sharing program.
The agreement allows Lyft to acquire Motivate, the
parent of company of Citi Bike. The company will then
invest $100 million to strengthen the bike sharing
system which includes doubling Citi Bike’s service
area by 35 square miles and tripling the number of
available bikes from its current 40,000 in the next
five years. Both pedal-assist bicycles and regular
bikes will be a part of the expansion.
By the end of February, Lyft plans on restoring the
existing Citi Bike system to its required fleet level
of 12,000 bikes.
As part of the agreement, the city also retains its
right to continue work on the on-going three-borough
dockless bike pilot program and to implement more
dockless bike share services outside of the expanded
Citi Bike service area.
42 DECEMBER 2018 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
This growth will turn Citi Bike into one of the
largest bike share systems on the planet, de
Blasio said. Lyft will continue Citi Bike’s efforts
towards transportation equality and pledges
to invest more in the $5 monthly bike share
memberships available to NYCHA residents and
SNAP recipients.
Where exactly the new bikes and bike docs will
be decided in the coming months, according to the
release. Expansion will be accompanied by commu-nity
and elected official outreach. Citi Bike already
operates in Astoria and Long Island City.
“I look forward to CitiBike’s continued growth into
more western Queens neighborhoods and beyond.”
said state Senator Michael Gianaris.
The improvement and expansion of Citi Bike will
continue to be privately funded without any govern-ment
subsidies, according to de Blasio.
Photo by Cristabelle Tumola
Transportation
/www.qns.com
