Tuesday, January 13, 2015

CitiBike tanking

From the NY Post:

The city’s bike-share membership is hitting the skids.

A plunge in CitiBike rides has wiped out the more than 50 percent boost to its coffers from a fare hike in November, data show.

NYC Bike Share, which runs CitiBike, took in about $360,000 from members that month — a 20 percent drop from the same month a year earlier, data show.

The money drain came even as the cost of annual membership jumped more than 50 percent, from $95 to $149 on Nov. 1.

“I think a lot of people are frustrated. [CitiBike] needs to be as reliable as the subway — and it isn’t,” said CitiBike blogger Ed Rademakers. “People don’t renew, or they buy their own bike.”

Annual membership in the bike-share program last November was 88,495, a 6.8 percent drop compared with November 2013, when membership stood at a robust 94,955, data show.

One-day memberships fell 33 percent, from 16,112 to 10,723, and weekly members fell 37 percent in that same period, from 1,339 to 843.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used CitiBike only twice since it started and both times the bike was in poor condition. Low tires, crooked handle bars and bad brakes. I only went on short hops, but it was enough for me to realize that this organization doesn't care for the safety of its customers.

Anonymous said...

It's winter time !

Anonymous said...

Get a Harley,you pussy boys!

Anonymous said...

No shit, Sherlock! Didn't I say that when it started? Another Bloomberg fuck up . Now what will it cost taxpayers to remove tho
Pse dumbasss bike lanes when they prove tho be another of Mikes follies?

JQ suis charlie said...

the bikes are garbage,they are heavy and look stupid.what they should do is just run citibike during the warm season and lock up the bikes in storage during the cold seasons.you leave these bikes out in the elements like rain,the cold and the effects the winds have these and any bike would break down

but the only reason this exists is to keep up advertising,because a struggling upstart like citibank needs all the promotion it can get I suppose.

it's good that this is failing,and more confirmation of 12 wasted years of mayor fun size's raping of the city that as made it unrecognizable and unlivable for working classes.

and about the bike racks,one day I saw a bunch of truants kick the front wheel of a "locked" bike and it came right off the rack with ease.it may explain why so many of these bikes wind up in parts of brooklyn that don't have this supposed public service>>>

http://nypost.com/2014/07/17/brooklyn-becoming-a-dumping-ground-for-stolen-citi-bikes/

Missing Foundation said...

I am continuously amazed at how the savviest place on earth can accept raising their kids in a tower built within a brownfield flood zone with sewage and God knows what flowing through their lobby at least once a decade,

or touting forms of transportation like ferries and bikes that were discarded by their great grandparents as impractical.

Anonymous said...

It was a fad, and the novelty is now over. Bye bye within 2 years.

Anonymous said...

obviously we need a new tax on driving to pay for this

Anonymous said...

Another loony progressive idea down the drain.

Anonymous said...

Bike commuting is a great way to improve one's wellbeing and help the environment. That said I still don't get the anti bike sediments posted here.

Anonymous said...

Bloomberg collected $1 million from CitiBike as a "referral fee". He donated it to a charity .

Anonymous said...

The city might consider some common sense rules and ideas for biking and treating bikers as drivers in NYC.

I propose:
1) All parking lots and garages set aside three car spaces for bikes. Each spot is large enough to hold 10 bikes and the owner charge $5 daily which would be more or equal to what they would receive from cars.
2) Install outside bike parking stands along the Municipal parking stations. Have the stands equipped with devices which will accept the Municipal receipts. Summons could be issued for time violations. If the bikes in violation are not removed in two days confiscate them and make the owner pay the summons and pick-up fee when they retrieve their bikes. If they don’t, auction them off with the minimum bid being the fine and fee.
3) Dictate all bikes have liability insurance and be engraved with a VIN number on the frame as cars have on the dashboard.
4) All bikes should have a registration fee of about one-half that of cars. All bikes must be registered at the place of purchase. Traffic agents could check VIN numbers with hand held computers at bike stands to assure registration is being observed.
5) Make all bike owners take a test so they know all city driving regulations.
6)) Enforce all traffic regulations for bikers. Speeding, obeying traffic light and stop signs, one way streets, etc..

Perhaps then we will have safer streets and more responsible bikers in this city.

Anonymous said...

A friend was driving his car in Manhattan this past summer and a CitiBike rider went through a red light and crashed into the passenger side of his car.
The biker broke his arm and caused significant damage to the car. The cops took all the pertinent info and my friend filed an accident report.
In November he was sued by the biker and Citibike even though he was did nothing wrong.
He wants to counter sue both Citibike and the bike rider for damages, physical to the car and emotional to him, and for their frivolous law suit.
Get this...his insurance company wants to settle with the biker and Citibike.

Anonymous said...

Since when is the subway reliable?

Anonymous said...

Where's Janette Sadik Khan? This was her baby and was a bad idea from the beginning.

Anonymous said...

I was thinking of stealing a nyc garbage truck( no lighting or securiy at most garages) and mowing down the parkig/ docking locations. Looks i won't need to .

Anonymous said...

Bike commuting is a great way to improve one's wellbeing and help the environment. That said I still don't get the anti bike sediments posted here.
---
Because bike on the city streets are stupid:

1. The only purpose they serve is for the kids that came to NYC from Iowa duped into a hair brained scheme to keep the carbon footprint in NYC low for more development. You want efficient transport? Get streetcars (which are not hip and sexy so the kids don't want them.)

2. Bike lanes make no sense on streets already choked with cars and trucks. They are a danger to themselves as well as drivers.

3. Bike riders, as a group, do not follow the rules of the road, which is what you would expect from a generation of coddled crybabies, or delivery guys from countries where there are no rules of the road.

4. You want to exercise? Walk to work. Getting to the office sweaty from a bike trip is obnoxious to your fellow workers (and forget about shower stalls at your employment when companies pay everyone garbage wages).

5. Impractical most of the time as in winter or rain. This was a big reason that bikes were discarded 100 years ago in NYC and a generation ago in poorer countries.

Dykes on Bykes said...

I love riding over NYC's many potholes. A girl gets a rush each time the rear wheel leaves each rut in the road.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"Because bike on the city streets are stupid:"
You are the one that sounds stupid !
It’s an activity you’ll be able to do the rest of your life and It’s a legitimate method of transportation.