Meanwhile in Rome...

Because this is a popular topic around here...

While municipal bike-sharing has thrived from Paris to São Paulo, Rome’s Roma’n’bike has been hobbled by crooks, politics, and geography — the city sits on its famous seven hills — combined with residents’ reluctance to abandon cars and scooters. “Romans don’t like to show up anywhere sweaty from a bike ride,” says Federico Niglia, a history professor at Luiss University who owns a bike but rarely pedals. “You have theft, bureaucracy, political wrangling. The same problems that plague the country are dooming bike-sharing.” — Bloomberg BusinessWeek

(Read "Rome's Bike-Sharing Program Is a Bust" here)

Meanwhile in Italy: [TO]Bike of Turin

Given some ongoing interest about Citi Bikes... we've had readers share photos of the bike-share programs in London ... and Paris... Now, EVG reader Jennifer Kellow checks in with photos from a recent trip to Turin (Torino), Italy... [TO]Bike of Turin launched in June 2010... at its debut, the 1,200-bicycle and 116 station service was Italy's second-largest bike share behind Milan...

Per the Bike-Sharing Blog (from 2010):

In Turin, the annual subscription to the system is very reasonable at €20 ($24 USD). There is a weekly pass at €5 ($6 USD) and a daily at €2 ($2.40 USD). As with most bike-sharing systems, the first 1/2 hour of usage is at no charge and then each 1/2 hour thereafter escalates in price.

[TO]Bike is part of the Bicincittà, which has bike-sharing programs throughout Italy and Switzerland.

Jennifer notes that "it does look like a nice normal bike share" ... and without any noticeable corporate sponsors.

And now, a post about Citi Bikes

Item!

EVG regular Pinhead spotted this attempt at Citi Yuks over on Sixth Avenue and 18th Street...



Item!

EVG reader lukeavC spotted this trash piled up on a docking station on Fifteenth Street and Five Avenue...



Item!

DNAinfo published an article yesterday titled "East Village's Citi Bike Stations Are Often Empty."

True!

Per the article:

If you want to ride a Citi Bike in Alphabet City, you'd better get up early.

Stations around Tompkins Square Park and along Avenues C and D are emptying by 8 a.m. — and they're staying that way through much of the day, Citi Bike data shows.

[Updated] Full week one observations: No, really — how is the Citi Bike bike share doing?

On Sunday, 24-hour and 7-day passes became available at Citi Bike kiosks... opening up the program to everyone (with a credit or debit card) who didn't buy annual memberships.

Sure, there have been plenty of glitches (as the New York Post is so quick to report).

Carlo Giurdanella sent this photo yesterday from East 11th Street at First Avenue ... pointing out that these two women, in town visiting from Holland, couldn't get the docking station to release a bike. The reader sent them to East 13th Street and Avenue A.



But. Hysteria aside. A reader sent this in an email:

I would love to see a follow-up story on Citi Bikes that looks at how they are being used in the neighborhood. I've noticed that many of the racks along Avenue B and C are completely empty in the mornings and full in the evenings, so it seems like there is a pretty sizable contingent of people using them to commute.

A quick aside: This person was vetted and found not to be a Citi Bike shill!

Bobby Williams took that above photo in the middle of the afternoon yesterday on East Ninth Street and Avenue C. (This docking station was out of commission all last weekend, as several readers noted.) There is one bike left.

People are using the bikes, yes? No?

Meanwhile, laat weekend, Wall Street Journal editorial board member Dorothy Rabinowitz ripped Citi Bikes, Bloomberg, et al.

Yesterday, Journal sports columnist Jason Gay provided his own take in a column after actually riding a Citi Bike:

The whole experience was rather simple. I believe this is the point of the bike. Somehow this act has become 'controversial' in New York. Sharing bicycles. …Some of the arguments against bike share are just confusing. I don’t know how to handle the argument that we don’t need bike share because everyone who wants to bike already owns a bike. That’s like saying that we don’t need restaurants because everybody has a kitchen.

I don’t know what to do with the argument that bike share stations take up valuable space on a public street. You know what is also taking up valuable space on a public street? Your car. My car.

And!

I don't know if it's actually controversial or it's just fun to make it sound controversial because that is what New York does. ... If anything, the 'outcry' about bikes sounds more like a last gasp, the same kind of gasp that always happens when a city is confronted with change.

Updated 9 a.m.:
Just saw these stats over at Fast Company...

The new Citi Bike program in New York seems to have proven hugely popular: In just 10 days, they have been ridden more than 100,000 times.

And you can find a heat map thing here that explains "the average change in travel time across the city when a commuter has access to a Citibike."

Now everyone [with a credit or debit card!] can ride Citi Bikes!

[East 13th Street yesterday morning]

Bike Share launched last Monday for folks who bought the annual membership... and today, 24-hour and 7-day passes are now available at Citi Bike kiosks...



Here's info on pricing:



And this is happening today:

Celebrate Citi Bike!
@ Union Square
North Side of Union Square Park, Manhattan
Sunday, June 2
11 am - 3 pm
We'll have a DJ, food, a Citi Bike Street Skills
zone where you can test your urban biking
skills, NYC DOT will be fitting and giving away 500
free helmets (must be 18+ or have a parent or guardian
18+ accompany you), plus some other fun special surprises. It’s free and open to all.

Today in the New York Post doesn't like Citi Bikes

Today's New York Post Citi Bikes Will Be the Downfall of NYC Feature highlights an East Village resident who got caught up in some stupid city bureaucracy.

Basically, here's what happened, torn right from the pages of today's paper!

An NYU grad student has finally won her battle with the city over $475 in parking fines racked up because a crew moved her car to an illegal spot to make way for a new bike-share station.

On April 30, Patricia Preston left her Honda Civic on East Second Street between avenues A and B, where she had to move it for street cleaning two days later.

When she went back, her car was gone — and a Citi Bike rack was in its place.

Anyway, among other things, the tow truck parked her car backward — handing her a $65 ticket.

The resident got all this dismissed yesterday in Manhattan Traffic Court.

Citi Bikes, work day 1

After yesterday's more leisurely Citi Bikes debut for riders with annual memberships... I decided to take a very unscientific look at the first working weekday for the bikes... I checked out the Docking Station at Astor Place (above) ... it was nearly empty the few times that I walked by ... (At the same time, docking stations near City Hall and Wall Street were reported full...)

An afternoon look at the docking station on East Seventh Street at Avenue A found a lot of bikes available ...


[Bobby Williams]

Crain's reported today that there were a few snafus in the system on Day 2, including that riders complained of problems docking their bikes.

Meanwhile today, WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show explored the question: Is the new bike share a practical – and fast — transportation option for congested NYC?

To find out, three WNYC employees left the same spot on Clinton Street and East Boradway, each taking different modes of transportation to get back to the station: bike share, cab and subway.

(Spoiler: the bike share won.)

You can listen to the segment here.

In other developments, there is already a Craigslist Missed Connection Post, per the Observer.

To date, more than 16,400 people have paid $95 for an annual membership, according to Crain's. BusinessWeek explores Citi's sponsorship angle in all this ("$41 million over five years is a rounding error for the company") ... while Motherboard explores who might be making money in all this.

Citi Bikes now making tired jokes about Williamsburg

The bike share is under way, of course ... and we're spotting more and more of them on the streets (people seem to be enjoying the experience, though we're terrible mind readers) ... Meanwhile, Ray LeMoine points out this Citi Copy® on East Second Street and Avenue B that we never noticed before ...

And we're off: 1st Citi Bikes spotted in the wild; world doesn't end

Have now spotted 4 people riding Citi Bikes in the last 10 minutes. Plus 1 van. twitter.com/evgrieve/statu…
— evgrieve (@evgrieve) May 27, 2013

Anyone with a Citi Bike membership want to share an assessment of your experience with the bikes today? (Anonymous or not.) Via the EV Grieve email ... or in the comments...

Meanwhile, the Post reports today that a Citi Bikes docking station was positioned "a mere 150 feet" from Frank's Bike Shop on Grand Street.

And the shop’s 68-year-old owner, affectionately known as “Dr. Frank,” is worried about his future.

"My biggest question is how did they come about to choose the areas where they put these bikes. Did they study the areas? Did they look at the businesses around them?" asked a flabbergasted Frank Arroyo.

He says his bike rentals comprise one-third of his income.

And did you see Marcellus Hall's New Yorker cover this week? (Read about it here.)


[Via Gothamist]

Week in Grieview — Citi Bikes edition

[Friday via EVG reader John]

Early verdict on Citi Bikes — kids love 'em (Friday, 26 comments)

And now, more complaints about Citi Bikes docking stations (Friday, 20 comments)

Trading places: Citi Bikes docking station making the move on East 11th Street (Thursday, 51 comments)

Report: 9th Precinct traffic safety sergeant worries about an increase in accidents with Citi Bikes (Thursday, 17 comments)

Countdown to Citi Bikes bike share in the East Village (Wednesday, 18 comments)

-----

... and a few people have said that the docking stations are positioned in a potentially dangerous manner; that people will have to pull the bikes from the docks out into the street ... Here's a shot from yesterday on St. Mark's Place ...


[Stephen Popkin]

...looks like enough room, yes?

Go Big blue

Seventh and A today ... via Bobby Williams...

Early verdict on Citi Bikes: Kids love 'em!

Students from (the middle school housed at?) PS 19 have discovered the Citi Bikes, which arrived on East 11th Street near First Avenue.

Look at those happy faces!

Video via MoRUS.

Report: 9th Precinct traffic safety sergeant worries about an increase in accidents with Citi Bikes

As the apocalypse© The Apocalypse® approaches with the arrival of Citi Bikes on Monday, there isn't any shortage of pros and cons to read out there about the bike-share program ... (This Curbed post from yesterday links to many of the various articles on the topic.)

Meanwhile, in an interview with DNAinfo's Serena Solomon, Amber Cafaro, a traffic safety sergeant stationed at the 9th Precinct, echoes what some people against the bike share have said: there will be an increase in accidents.

To the story.

Cafaro listed recent accidents in the East Village involving distracted cyclists talking on phones and running red lights, along with one biker who slipped on a wet roadway and wound up putting his hand through a car windshield.

"Bikers don't realize you can't do that," Cafaro said, describing behaviors that could endanger cyclists. "You have to stay off the phone, you have to stay in the bike lane and you have to stop at red lights."

The East Village recently saw a spike in reported bicycle crashes, with eight in the 28-day period ending May 19, compared to just four in the same period the previous year, Cafaro said.

Read the whole article here.

Meanwhile, at Slate, there's a "10-point resolution to end the decades-long conflict between walkers and bikers."

[Image via Citi Bikes]

Countdown to Citi Bikes bike share in the East Village

The Citi Bikes bike share program will officially launch on Monday for the 8,000 or so people who bought the annual membership in the City. (We saw on Twitter that at least one East Village resident received her membership card in the mail.) For everyone else, weekly and daily passes go on sale June 2.

Ahead of this, Citi Bike officials were checking out the docking stations to make sure each rack works here on East 13th Street and Avenue A, as EVG reader Gary pointed out...



This was the docking station that someone festooned with dog poop and colorful signs last week. In fact, this post (briefly) served as the backdrop for Greg Mocker's report on Citi Bikes Sunday night on WPIX ...



Here's the segment. (Thanks to Shawn Chittle for this.)

-----

Meanwhile ... several readers noted that someone placed MasterCard stickers on the docking stations on East Second Street at Avenue B... and East Sixth Street at Avenue B... Seventh Street and Avenue A... initially we thought this might be some act of tomfoolery, though that's not the case... The program is funded jointly by Citibank and Mastercard, who paid $41 million and $6.5 million, respectively, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.





-----

Finally, as a refresher. For accurate (probably) information on how Citi Bikes work... here is the official information on pricing ... and here are FAQs.

[Updated] Someone befouled this Citi Bikes docking station with a large piece of dog poop; plus signs

EVG reader Sam shares this with us today from over on East 13th Street at Avenue A... someone left a sign painted in blood red that reads: "TO THE MAYor REMOVE All "CiTi BiKES" BoycoTT CiTy BAnK." The other homemade sign reads: "CitiBank is responsible for all CitiBikes To be put in here. Stop Them Call 311 To Complain." There is a signature on that sign, though it's tough to make out the name.



Oh, and someone put a large piece of dog poop on the first docking station in the row...



Larry Watson, owner of Percy's Tavern on the corner, cleaned off the poop this afternoon. Read that here.

Reader mailbag: Is it legal to park next to a docking station before the Citi Bikes arrive?

This weekend, several readers sent us photos of vehicles parked next to the new docking station on East Sixth Street at Avenue B...


[EVG reader Mark]


[Dave on 7th]


[EVG reader John]

The actual Citi Bikes will likely arrive on or just before the expected May 27 launch date... Once the bikes arrive, parking next to a docking station won't be possible. (Well, we'll see.)

Anyway, a reader, who wanted to be clear that he wasn't complaining about Citi Bikes, simply asked if it is legal to park next to an unoccupied docking station. Because he has a car, temporarily, and it can be tough to find a place to park around here. (And why would he have a car? To make it easier to visit his mother who's in a nursing home in a place not convenient to public transportation.)

There aren't street signs pointing to any offense by parking next to the docking station ... Along here, there's just the alternate side parking sign ...



Anyone know? Is this a parking offense that deserves a ticket?

Noted

East Fifth Street at Avenue C. Will it be a long hot summer for the docking stations?

Photo by Bobby Lebrini

Bike share launches May 27; CB3 asks residents to take wait-and-see approach

City officials announced yesterday that the Citi Bikes program will officially launch on May 27. However, the first week of service is only for the 8,000 or so people who bought the annual membership. For all you car-loving, tourist-hating residents everyone else, weekly and daily passes go on sale June 2.

Here's part of the official message:

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and NYC Bike Share today announced that Citi Bike will launch for annual members on Monday, May 27, as the 6,000-bike, 330-station system brings New York’s newest and most affordable transportation option to parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Annual members who sign up by May 17 will receive their Citi Bike electronic keys in time to enjoy exclusive use of the system starting Memorial Day before the system opens to daily and weekly members on June 2. The initial service area includes Manhattan below 59th Street and the neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and parts of Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. Citi Bike operates without City subsidy and the $95 annual membership equals about 25 cents a day for the kind of unlimited short trips that bike share is designed for.

“Now’s the time for New Yorkers to sign up for their own keys to the city,” said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. “More than eight thousand annual members have already signed up to get a head start on the newest way to get around, and the excitement continues to build as we count down the days to launch.”

Annual memberships providing unlimited rides of 45 minutes or less are available at citibikenyc.com. Bike share will extend the reach of the city’s transportation network, providing easier, faster access to destinations farther from transit stops. Starting June 2, daily memberships will be available for $9.95 a day or $25 a week, granting those members unlimited rides of 30 minutes or less at no additional cost for the duration of their membership period.

Meanwhile, yesterday, in anticipation of all this... we received the following message from the folks at Community Board 3:

Bike Share will launch May 27. Issues that must be dealt with immediately, such as a blocked driveway or loading zone, should be emailed to the community board office (info@cb3manhattan.org) and we will work with DOT to have these sites inspected immediately.

There are other concerns regarding placement of installations or size of installations, or the number of installations in close proximity to each other. We are asking people to wait until bike share is in operation for a month to see what works and what doesn’t. What installations are not being used to capacity? What installations do not accommodate the number of bikes needed?

The Community Board 3 Transportation Committee will meet on Tuesday, July 16 to hear concerns. DOT will attend the meeting to note these concerns and address or inspect and follow up. Please check the CB 3 website for the meeting location or sign up to receive monthly agendas (join cb 3’s mail list on website).

And as a refresher. Here is the official information on pricing ... and here are FAQs.

Citi Bikes docking station arrives this morning on East 14th Street and Stuy Town

EVG reader Brett notes that the docking stations arrived this morning around 10...



... here on East 14th Street... just east of Avenue B and adjacent to Stuy Town...



Bike docking stations also arrived this morning on East Sixth Street ... on the south side of the street near Avenue B...


[Photo by Sally Davies]

Citi Bikes docking stations Week in Grieview

[St. Mark's Place]

The Citi Bikes docking stations arrived in the neighborhood this past week, as you probably noticed... We did.

Our 12 posts on the topic fielded 277 comments, covering everything from the Fall of Rome, Nazi Germany, 9/11 and the Mayan Apocalypse.

These two had the most comments:

Reader mailbag: Have you read the Citi Bikes Rental Agreement? (49 comments)

And!

Here's another docking station for St. Mark's Place (49 comments)

Any thoughts on why this is such a divisive topic?