Running head: CITI BIKE

Citi Bike Saher Hashimi Molloy College

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Citi Bike Citi bike is a privately owned public bicycle sharing system that serves New York City. It is the largest bike sharing program in the United States. The system opened to the public on May 26th, 2013. The New York Times interviewed one of the bike users, a male 39 years old had given his opinion about the bikes stating. I have used New Yorks new Citi Bike share system almost daily since it began on Sunday, May 26th. I love it. The bikes are solid, comfortable, smooth, beautifully designed, a joy to ride. The stations you check them in and out of are generously provided all over Manhattan below 59th Street, as well as in a sizable patch of Brooklyn, and they too are elegantly and sensibly designed. Simply stick your annual-membership key into a slot by a bicycle, pull out the bike, adjust the seat to your preferred height, and off you go. Then dock the bike at any other station anywhere. The price, $95 a year for unlimited 45-minute rides (Flegenheimer, 2013, p.6). Bicycling is not new in New York City; the first bike path in America opened in Brooklyn in 1894 and now over 200,000 New Yorkers are biking in our streets every day. But some residents and small businesses are fed up with the rental stations popping up on their streets. They have to come up with something other than this, said Gary Ormiston, 62,who is annoyed that the city put up one of its 330 stations outside his west village apartment building, adding that he wasnt notified ( Pereira, 2013a, para.3). The resindents also mentioned about other tenants, residents of 99 Bank Street in the West Village filed a law suit complaining that the 70-foot station in front of the building took up too much space on their cobblestone block. The City apparently heard some of the concerns, so it

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decided on removing the racks that covered the entrance and placing a concrete slab to separate the cars and bikes. One of the other residents said, I am not against the program but this is not the way to do it, Her concern was that when the bikes come in, there will be no room for anyone on the road (Pereira, 2013a, para.5). The bike stations also created a nightmare for drivers who are already having problems finding a parking space, critics say. According to Pereira (2013), several drivers reported that the City towed their cars in what were once legal spots without notice, because their cars were near the empty bike racks. The answer of the Department of Transportation was that, the department posted no parking signs at least three days before crews installed each station. Over in Brooklyn some Forte Greene and Clinton Hill residents, despite the fact that the bike racks have a logo for sponsor Citigroup and a pole that serves as a solar panel, stick out in their historic districts. Angry residents posted fliers saying the companys logo shouldnt be splattered on landmarked blocks. The small businesses such as food cart vendors say miscommunication about the program is costing them. Sometime in April, vendors protested at Zuccotii Park over the station at Liberty Street and Broadway, which is a prime spot for food carts. Pereira (2013) reported that Archana Dittakavi, staff attorney for the Street Vendor Project, a nonprofit that represents food vendors, said her clients have no qualms about city bikes but they wish that they had more warning about the rack set up. The attorney said that when it comes to taking up the spaces that vendors occupy, the city is taking away peoples ability to work. The Department of Transportation stated that they have permits from community boards about the bike station locations and installation (Pereira, 2013). The Department of Transportation also released the information that the demand for the bike program is huge, as more than 5,000 applicants signed up for the service in the first forty eight hours of registration. This data explains that the majority

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of New Yorkers love the urban life style of New York City; they consider these changes a healthier, greener transportation and the rest of the residents are still trying to adapt to the changes. Less than three months after the program was introduced, more than 70,000 people have become annual members. Between those cyclists and other who buy temporary passes, riders have taken more than 40,000 trips on some of the systems busiest days, about seven for each bike in circulation (Pereira, 2013a). When the City of New York first opened the bike stations to the public, the commuters were excited about the whole idea without knowing that they would run into a slew of technical problems. There were technical software issues with the bikes system from across the Columbus Circle to Brooklyn Heights. The system was having serious birthing pains. More and more, in the couple of weeks since it launched, the whole station of 20 or 30 bikes were dead, unable to release the bikes locked up there or take in new ones. One of the gentlemen who was interviewed by Flegenheimer (2013) stated that I spent like 20 minutes trying to get my bike back inside station he told the Post. I didnt want to be late for work but I didnt want to be charged over $1,000 if the bike was stolen with my account information still on it. Another rider said that it is not working. I have tried it on about 30 bikes at 10 different kiosks and it doesnt work. When I called first they put me on hold for 45 minutes and then they answered stating that a lot of people are experiencing this problem (Fleggenheimer, 2013, para.14). The Department of Transportation officials wouldnt respond to questions about malfunctioning racks and keys, but they did say their customer service center was having issues taking calls due to problems with Time Warner. One of the rider said that when it works it is great. He does not have the time to exercise and now while he goes to work he gets his exercise, but the system has not been smooth so far (Pereira, 2013b).

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In my opinion the Citi should had considered voting system before implementing Citi Bike. But I personally believe that the idea is just brilliant if considered health-wise. We live in advanced world where technology has made our transportation needs very convenient in such a way that people hardly walk or engage in any type of physical activities. But now the program of the bikes will encourage people to take advantage of the program and enjoy their rides. However, I do not want to reinforce my opinion because I am not a New York City resident who is effected by this program.

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References Flegenheimer, M. (2013, 5 29). Citi bikes made me late to work. New York Post . Retrieved from www.nypost.com Pereira, I. (2013, 4 30). Citi bike stations cause headaches for many new yorkers. amNew York . Retrieved from http://www.amny.com Pereira, I. (2013, 9 15). First summer of citi bike exceeds expectations. amNew York . Retrieved from http://www.amny.com