Citi Bike blog project – Smart Transportation Choices

Citi Bike can be a smart transportation choice, but sometimes it’s not always ideal. When deciding on where I should bike, using the Citi Bike, I wanted to experience two distinct journeys. The first trip I chose was to go from Penn Station to Grand Central Terminal (yes, there is a difference between a station and a terminal) thinking maybe this could be a viable connection between these two hubs of the city that for some reason have always eluded a direct connection. This trip I feel a lot of New Yorkers make and wanted to have a “commuter’s experience.” On the second trip, I wanted to see how a tourist would use Citi Bike and experience it that way, and so decided a nice leisure bike ride through Central Park would be a good option.

As any smart phoned millennial would do, I first downloaded the app so that I can see what options were offered to me.  The app offers the following information:

v  A map showing where stations are and how many bikes and docks are at that station

v  A timer so that I can avoid any overage charges.

v  A favorite’s option to save frequently used stations and places

v  A contact button that provides a phone number, an email, and a link to the Citi Bike website

v  Riding tips to include:

§  The rules for bike riding in NYC

§  A pre-check to do before you start riding

§  Safety tips

§  Reporting a problem

§  A NYC cycling map showing all established bike lanes

v  Settings button that allows you to choose:

§  Annual vs Short term membership

§  Miles vs Km

§  Regular vs 3D map

v  Getting started button allowing the first time user to browse:

§  How the bike share program works

§  FAQs

§  Application help

§  Pricing

 

Overall, the app is useful and informative. It allowed me to quickly get the gist of the bike share program prior to my ride.

Now that I felt comfortable with destinations and familiarity of the safety tips and routes that were so generously provided to me through the app, I embarked on getting my rental bike. My first impression of the touch screen at the pay kiosk is that it was slow and not accurate with the touch calibration. Which will only get worse as people continue to use it, because the area where the buttons on the screen will only get more and more worn. The amount of screens the rider encounters is a little overwhelming. Even at the hint of someone else wanting to get to the kiosk for a bike is enough to have anyone accept anything asked by Citi Bike.

“In the event that your bike is lost or stolen you will be indentured to Citi Bike as a bike stocker.” Accept!

But once I signed my life away and my credit card was charged I was well on my way to be annoyed by the many, many pedestrians that use the bike lane as an extension to the sidewalk. Thank goodness for the little bell on the handle, as I angrily warned people of my presence on the bike lane. As you can see in the first graph below it took nearly 15 minutes to the less than 2 miles between Penn Station and GCT. This was achieved by the use of my NYC grit that I’ve gained in previous years of bike riding in the city. I don’t think an average first time rider on the Citi Bike would have fared as well as I did. The hardest part was the loss of the bike lane in the two block stretch in front of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. There were a lot of cabs and confused bikers who were poured into one area to fend for themselves. I did make it to GCT with a group of five other Citi Bike riders who were doing the same thing I was doing and taking the bike to train station to be a “commuter”, so I was successful in my experience as a local. 

The second trip went much smoother. To get a second bike is much easier that the initial process of getting it. I simply just ran the same card I previously paid with and got a second pin code to access another bike. The ride was even nicer, it was a relaxing cycle in Central Park with no stops or distractions. I was forced to do a loop that brings me back to 59^th Street because there are no Citi Bike docking stations above this area. I figure once biking catches on and becomes profitable to Citi Bike it will expand its territory to 110^th Street. This will become the most popular way to get across town in the UWS and UES will be to bike across the park.

Over all I was quite happy with the decisions I made to see the two New Yorks that exist only blocks away from each other. A commuter who is just trying to get from point A to point B in the shortest time possible and a tourist who feels that they can probably see more of New York on a bike and take in the sights above ground rather than taking the subway and missing all the in between moments. I hope that Citi Bike does well and expands its capacity.

Recommendations I have for Citi Bike are to keep up with the advocacy to improve and install bike lanes in the city. This is what will make biking in the city safer, more appealing, and more reliable which will result in a profitable and successful bike share. Citi Bike needs to promote itself as the “link” between the other modes of transportation to fill in the void of where other public transit is lacking. As New York becomes more multimodal conscience and users of the public transit system see it as a viable extension of the already existing system it will see much more ridership. Another recommendation would to allow a way for those who do not have a credit card a means of obtaining a bike. This ultimately will affect the low income communities that Citi Bike will eventually move into. Empowering these group of people will have a positive impact on both the community and the bike share.