Citi Bike Initiative To Expand Into Queens Soon
Commuters in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn got a new transportation option, Monday, May 27, when the city opened its bike-sharing network to members who registered for the program.
With 6,000 bikes and 300 stations, the city is touting it as the nation’s largest bike-share program. So far, 15,000 annual members have signed up for the program, whose initial service area includes Manhattan below 59th Street and the Brooklyn Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and DUMBO neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
Dubbed Citi Bike, the bike-share is being funded by a $41 million sponsorship from Citi Bank.
The program is currently only open to annual members, who can take unlimited, 45-minute trips by picking up a bike at one station and dropping it off at any other station in the city.
Beginning June 2, anyone can purchase a 24-hour or seven-day pass allowing them unlimited, 30-minute rides over the span of the pass. Passes are available at station kiosks.
“The Citi Bike program is a big win for New York, and it’s already the largest bike share system in the nation,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a press event on Mon- day. “It’s going to give New Yorkers another way to get around town by extending connectivity from subway and bus stops. It’s also going to be great for our millions of visitors, allowing them another way to see the city, including making our incredible waterfront more accessible.”
“Citi Bike isn’t just a bike network, it’s New York City’s first new public transit system in more than 75 years,” said city Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. “Bikes are convenient, safe and affordable transit for growing numbers of New Yorkers and Citi Bike will change how we get around the city for years to come.”
Citi Bike locations were deter- mined at 400 meetings with community boards, civic organizations, elected officials and other property owners and stakeholders, and with some 65,000 online suggestions received on the City’s bike share portal, according to a press release from the city.
The city aims to expand the program 10,000 bikes and 600 stations stretching from the Upper East and West sides to Long Island City and Sunnyside in Queens and to Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Crown Heights and Greenpoint in Brooklyn.
