TRAFFIC

Citi Bike celebrates 10 years of service in New York City

Friday, May 26, 2023

Citi Bike, the beloved bicycle share program many New Yorkers use to get around, celebrates 10 years of service on Saturday. Lauren Glassberg has the story.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Citi Bike, the beloved bicycle share program many New Yorkers use to get around, celebrates 10 years of service on Saturday.

Tina Feege began using Citi Bike during the pandemic when she stopped using the subway and she's been a regular rider ever since.

"I could not live without Citi Bike, I go all around the city on Citi Bike," Tina said.

Citi Bike launched 10 years ago with 6,000 bikes and 46,854 rides were taken that first week.

Now there are nearly 30,000 bikes in four boroughs. The bike share service set a record two weeks ago when 867,840 rides were taken.

Dog walker Brian Garcia likely took a few of them.

"I like the convenience. I like to go and just ride real quick, return real quick it's fast and convenient," Brian said.

And the service is perfect for his job as a dog walker and he keeps tabs on how much he rides.

While Citi Bike is an overall success, some neighborhoods still don't have bike docks. The entire borough of Staten Island doesn't have any.

The city is currently working on adding more bike lanes to make rides safer but Elizabeth Adams with Transportation Alternatives said they're lagging behind schedule.

"They're behind that requirement. They're slow in meeting that need," Elizabeth Adams said. "We need to see a ramp-up of more bike lanes across our city."

The city plans on adding 50 more miles of bike lanes in 2023 and that's something riders are on board with.

"I ride in bike lanes all the time and I wish there were more bike lanes," Tina said.

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