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. 

cool looking bike.  probably designed by an Architect.
 and another cool looking bike,

which I would gladly rent if available in Manhattan:

My First Citi-Biking Experience in Lower Manhattan Area.

Ever since I have been in New York City, I wanted to experience a bicycle ride around the city. While I did ride bike for years in my home country, I could not really manage to get on the streets of New York to ride a bike. The course assignment gave me an opportunity to fulfill my prolonged dream of experiencing a bicycle ride around New York City. Being fairly new to the city my only concern was to be able to locate the routes properly. So, I decided to ask my husband if he could accompany me on this adventure, to which he enthusiastically agreed. My husband has been a regular biker for many years.

We wanted to make the exercise of studying the conditions of the bike routes in Lower Manhattan not only a learning experience, but also a memorable, fun event. Keeping that in mind, we chose a route that would encompass all kinds of roads: a protected bike lane, a standard bicycle lane, a shared lane and no bike lane. The Citi Bike communications media do a good job in educating the riders in how to UNLOCK, RIDE, and RETURN the Citi Bike. However, in my experience there is a wide scope for improvement at each of these three steps. 

Unlocking a Citi-Bike requires a one-day pass user to take a 24-hour pass, which gives the user unlimited rides for a day provided that the user recharges the Citi Bike every 30 minutes during the active use of the bike. To commence my journey, I went to the ticketing kiosk and followed the instructions shown on the screen, purchased the 24-hr pass, took the ride code receipt, entered the code at the docking station, and pulled the bike out of the docking station when the station light turned green. 

Since I was not accustomed to an international bike design, I took time to learn about the bike functionalities. It took me some time to figure out the location and functioning of the bell and the gear. My hubby was chuckling as if he had anticipated my anxiety. When I did locate the bell and rang it, it made a soft sound, which I think was not enough to alert the drivers, pedestrians, or other cyclists of the rider’s presence. Among other issues I noticed include the brakes, which were too tight, and the seat height adjustment lever, which required considerable force to activate. As I was prepared to rest the bike using a bike stand, I noticed that the bike stand was missing. Considering my unfamiliarity with the international bike model, initially I thought the stand must be located somewhere else, but that was not the case; the stand was really missing. I had to return the bike to the dock, so that I could find a better one. I tried to unlock another bike by using the same ride code, but wasn’t successful in my attempt. For a moment, I got goose bumps thinking that I lost my 10 dollars and I would need to buy another one-day pass. I rushed to the kiosk and looked for any instructions, but there were none that would resolve the issue. So, I called the helpline number. The Citi Bike customer service agent did answer the call quickly and guided me to request another ride code. While I was waiting in line to get the second ride code, I noticed a couple of riders had issues with getting their ride code receipts printed. Some didn’t even think of calling the Citi Bike customer service and left frustrated with the ticketing system. This time, it took some time to get the ride code receipt, but I finally got one. I quickly grabbed another bike, did a pre ride check, and began my ride marching towards Hudson River Park.

The first sigh of satisfaction came as I hit the protected bike lane of the Hudson River Park. The bike lane was well planned and well maintained. There were proper signage and signals for biker and pedestrian safety. The only exception was a non-working traffic light at the intersection of Chelsea pier and Hudson Greenway near pier 62. When I realized, it was 25 minutes past the original time. I was at the Chelsea pier and I had to rush to the nearest docking station, which I had to explore. I wished the Citi Bike would have put signage showing nearest bike stations along the Hudson Greenway.    

Fortunately, I came across with a biker who told me that the nearest Citi Bike station was at West 14 Street and 10^th Ave (High Line Park). I peddled as fast as I could to reach the docking station before I ran out of time. I noticed the dock was almost full. However, I was able to locate two empty docking ports. Unfortunately, I couldn’t dock my bike even after several trials. As I was scrambling to dock my bike, I saw an undocked bike at the station. Someone must have had a terrible experience docking the bike. I called the customer service hotline once again and explained the situation. The agent advised me to go one more block, and assured me that I would not be fined for the extra time considering the rare circumstances. I went one more block to dock my bike at the 14^th street and 9^th avenue. I experienced similar conditions at this station. However, I could manage to recharge my bike successfully and move on.

  

This time, I promised myself to prepare to recharge the bike every 20 minutes. The next recharging stop was at the Chambers Street. At this station, I and many others faced a bunch of issues. The station had couple of malfunctioning docking ports; the ticketing kiosk didn’t print the ride code on a couple of receipts, and there was a delay in printing the receipts.

As we moved to the south, we came across Vesey Street where we noticed that the bike lane was almost completely blocked by many pedestrians and the portable toilet cabins, which, clearly, ought not to be in the bike lanes. 

 

We continued our journey till Battery Park and started moving uptown on Church Street. As we made a right turn on Church Street, entering into Warren Street, we saw a discontinued bike lane as a result of construction work. The bikers had a narrow road to share with the regular traffic. 

  

We crossed City Hall Park to go to the Brooklyn Bridge. We noticed that no bike lane exists in this Park although the bikers are allowed inside the Park. We moved ahead to experience the most thrilling ride on the Brooklyn bridge. As expected, we encountered a variety of challenges riding on the bridge. At the entrance, the bike lane directions on the floor were not clearly marked. As I started ascending the bridge, I started recognizing one more issue with Citi Bike, i.e. the bike is not suitable for riding on the slopes as it demands excessive efforts. I had to stop at couple of places before I could finally complete the ride up the bridge. I also noticed that the safety cones indicating “Wet Paint” were obstructing the already narrow bike lane; a “Wet Paint” tape would have done a job, saving the space. I saw some bikers riding on the left side of the bike lane. Last but not the least, the pedestrian encroachment in the bike lane was frequent and obvious. Both the pedestrians and the bikers were yelling at each other, claiming the right of way of their respective lanes.

Banning the bikers on the bridge would help resolve the issue, especially on weekends when visitors are expected on the bridge in large numbers. The other solution is to detour the bicycle traffic via the Manhattan Bridge which has a well protected bike lane or by opening the lower part of Brooklyn Bridge for bikers.

After Brooklyn Bridge, we went to recharge the bike on Church Street and Leonard Street, where we noticed that the station neither had a protective barricade nor any marked lane to protect the bike dockers from getting hit by oncoming traffic. 

After recharging the bike, we continued on Church Street. On Church Street and in between Franklin Street and Leonard Street, we noticed a dangerous bike lane merging. The bikers are required to merge and switch the sides from right to left quickly within feet, beating the fast vehicular traffic. The bike lanes can be remapped to avoid the dangerous merging.

As we moved forward along Sixth Avenue, I saw many people violating the traffic rules, such as bikers not following the traffic signals, the cars encroaching upon bike lanes, the bus traffic occupying all the lanes, double-parked cars in bike lane, Taxi-drivers dropping off passengers in bike lanes, and oncoming bikers in the wrong direction.

We then moved to Carmine Street and 6^th Avenue to recharge the bike. We did not get a receipt and had to call customer service hot line again. The agent helped us punch in a temporary code and resolve the issue. Moving to the 6^th Avenue, we came across a bike station on 33^rd street where we recharged the bike. We noticed that the ticket kiosk was surrounded by a street vendor. There was no space to stand and get the bike pass from the kiosk. 

We then moved to the 6th avenue until 59th street and then turned left to complete the loop. To summarize, on Sunday, September 28th ,we started our tour from 11 Avenue and West 59th Street and continued on our way to the Hudson River Greenway, Battery Park city, Brooklyn Bridge, and returned to complete the loop via the Church street onto 6th avenue  up to 59th street. We began at 11.15 a.m and returned at 5.35 p.m with a good 6.20 hrs of riding around lower Manhattan. The whole experience was memorable and fun. 

Miscellaneous Issues and suggestions:

• 30 minute time limit is very challenging to cover some locations.
• Bike charging stations are very close in midtown like one could view two bike racks within one eye shot from a street, while at some locations they are 3 to 4 blocks apart.
• The Kiosk ticketing system need to be more efficient and smoothly working.
• Regular check of the bike conditions from Citi Bike is desired.
• Improving the design of citibike is desired.
• Signage for nearest Citi Bike station along the bike routes required.
• Providing station maps at the Citi Bike stations suggested.
• People should act responsibly; ensuring that the bike is docked in the station while returning, not banging in the bikes in rush at the docks, obey all the traffic rules and wear helmets while riding etc.
• Bike lane marking on the floor and roads are not visible at some locations.
• Well protected bike lanes on the busier streets of midtown are essential.
• Brooklyn Bridge bike lane need to be remapped through vehicular traffic below by providing protected bike lanes.

My bike experience in NYC

I am a thirty year old woman who moved to New York City four years ago. I am coming from Medellin, Colombia, a mountainous city in the heart of the Andean cordillera, and which has been developing its transportation system in an exemplar way within the country during the past decades. However, this is the first time in my life I have lived in a different city, and it is also the first time I am living in a city with a well-developed bike lane system.

I learned how to ride a bike when I was around 7 years old. My father taught me on the streets in my neighborhood. It was a private condo where the cars went in only for parking, so there were no hazards of been beaten by an automobile. Since that time I fell in love with biking, but unfortunately I rode my bike only until I became a teenager, because I stopped to play in my neighborhood. At that moment, I changed the security of my condo for the “wildness” of the city’s streets, where it was dangerous to ride a bike.

Once I arrived to New York, in September 2010, I started to discover a new kind of city with a lot of public spaces and bike lanes!  It took me about a year to buy my own bike, but I was using borrowed bikes in the meantime. I found biking an excellent way to explore this amazing city in my own way and rhythm.

The first place I lived, was Bushwick, northern Brooklyn. During the two years I lived there, I became accustomed to the relationship between car drivers and bike riders. I explored the variety of online maps and applications; in other words, it was a learning time. My rides were mostly dedicated to going to the beach (Rockaways and Coney Island), visit parks (mostly within Brooklyn), and I also went to the wildlife refuge in Jamaica bay, it was a great time. Then, when I started to make my life in the city, when my tourist period ended and I fell into the everyday routine between work, school and days off, I started to use my bike more regularly.

By this time I moved to Prospect Park South, Brooklyn, I found a job in Park Slope and I was already studying at City College. As consequence of the location of “my” places, my rate of bike riding is higher, with the exception of going to college (too far), and the coldest period of winter (too cold). This neighborhood is endowed with a complete and well-designed grid of bike lanes and bike paths. I was always using my bike, still to go to Manhattan. Certainly, thanks to this I had the opportunity to go to Manhattan a couple of days after Hurricane Sandy, one of the most apocalyptic experiences in my life. I saw the east village, china town and little Italy completely empty. It was a weird sensation, but once again I confirmed that the advantage of having a well-developed cycle paths and bike lanes allows citizens to explore the city and live it in a more deep way. This changes ones perception of the city’s dynamics and generates for the inhabitant an empathy for this urban environment; empathy that makes you conscious of your role as citizen. You fall in love with the city and engage it. This kind of feeling is the one we need in our attempt to develop a more sustainable city; a more livable city for its citizens.

Now, let’s try to see how the bike-sharing program of New York, called Citi-Bike, is contributing to the sustainability of the city. In first place, I must confess that I have never used the program. Never when I used to live in Brooklyn, and not now when I am living in Inwood, Manhattan. As you will see in the following map, the location of the Citi-Bike stations does not match with any of my everyday destinations, so that is why I never use it, without mentioning that I already have a bike.

However, before I write this post, I tried to find an opportunity to use it, only because I love to experience something before talking about it. But it was really impossible, first because I never go to the area where the Citi-Bike stations are located, and secondly, and most importantly, because I found out that it is not a cheap thing to do, and worse yet when you are a student that practically works for paying your studies. As is described in the Citi-Bike web page http://www.citibikenyc.com/pricing, you have three options for buying a ride: the 24 hour pass, the week pass, or the year membership; you need to pay the $9.95, $25 or $95 fee respectively (without tax) to have the right to ride the blue bike. But beware! You can only do it for 30 minutes uninterrupted, for the two first options, and for a 45 minute period for the membership. This means that if you do not return your bike before those 30 minutes, you will be charged for extra time, and that charge will increase exponentially the first couple of hours (you can check this more in detail in the web page link above).

 

Now the question was: how can I discover what people really think about Citi-Bike? Do they use it? So to answer this I went out, took pictures and interviewed some of my friends; well, to be honest, I actually tried to interview some people on the streets, but it seems like New Yorkers don't like cameras, although it can be hard to believe.

Here are the results, but first I have to warn you that I am not an expert in media, or in taking pictures, so please forgive the quality of the images.

This one was taken in Columbus Circle, a fancy tourist area where the main business is entertainment, hotels and stores. The users were wearing formal suits, which means that probably they work around the area, and for sure they have a membership, they acted like experienced people in using Citi-Bike. The bike lanes around this area are pretty well defined, and visible for riders.

Then I went to Tribeca, an arts and industrial business neighborhood. The bike lane wasn't that well defined, and the road was being repaired.

The current stations coincide with the most tourist oriented zones in the city (https://www.citibikenyc.com/stations). So here the question changes to, what is the real purpose of Citi-Bike? To serve to the citizens as a different option for transportation, or in being an attraction for tourists?

After listening to my friends (see the video below), I found that only one of them have used the program. The rest really do not know how Citi-Bike works. Also, many of them are afraid to ride a bike on the streets, and the ones who understand how it works, think that it is so expensive.

To watch the interview please refer to this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lF-d7UyVRY&feature=youtu.be

My impression of the program after I understood it, is that in order to make this a real strategy for reaching sustainable goals of the city, City-Bike has to be part of the public transportation system. From my point of view, Citi-Bike looks like a business opportunity under the name of “sustainability” rather than a strategy for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. I believe that a real sustainable transportation program should look for making the citizens' commutes more pleasant, while integrating green and alternative options.

I understand that Citi-Bike can represent advantages for some people who do not have enough space at home to store their bikes, and don’t like to leave them locked on the streets, so I don’t say that New York doesn’t need the program. But if I were a policymaker for the city, I would reinvent the program. It would be a city funded one, and its expansion design would be under a real sustainable transportation perspective, rather than merely a business approach. This perspective does not exclude an economic gain from it, as was described by some of those in the bike businesses in the city. The program will increase the public interest for bikes and in this way would stimulate the bike business. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/204474-as-bike-share-thrives-demand-for-rentals-dwindles/

In order to not affect the bike renting business for tourists, the program can be made only for NYC citizens, and those who want to use it should register themselves at the DOT to obtain the card for renting. That card can be used as a metro card too, with everything integrated and also, reducing waste!

On October 27, “Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation that will lower the default speed limit in New York City from 30 to 25 miles per hour. This means that beginning November 7, the speed limit on all streets will be 25 mph.” (http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/493-14/mayor-de-blasio-signs-new-law-lowering-new-york-city-s-default-speed-limit-25-mph#/0). This decision was taken based on the understanding about how motor vehicle collisions can cause permanent bodily injury or even death.  

To understand how this works, the Effects of Vehicle Speed on Pedestrian Fatalities were published by the Bicycling Education and Advocacy in North Carolina. The following table shows how, when a pedestrian is struck, the likelihood of death increases faster than the percentage increase in vehicle speed, in a nonlinear fashion:

Source: http://humantransport.org/sidewalks/SpeedKills.htm

From this findings we understand that a 5 mph reduction is really significant. At the same time, because of the fact that “New York City is dedicated to make streets as safe as possible for pedestrians, motorists, cyclists, and all who share the road” (Melissa Mark-Viverito); people like my friends are going to be much more confident at the time of riding their bikes around the city. Once Vision Zero has been completely adopted by all the car drivers in New York; a public bike-sharing program will be welcome, and for sure, will be used by City inhabitants.

  

Finally, I have to say that I love this city and I wish someday my city, Medellin, reaches the level of bike lane development that we can find here (we already started with a bike sharing program too!). But as all us know, we can always make it better.

   

CitiBike at midday

I work downtown where CitiBike is heavily concentrated, so I decided that a lunchtime ride would be the best time to take out a bike.  Because its coverage area does not include upper Manhattan, I have not used the system since an initial trial run after its launch last summer.

The racks near office buildings fill up during the day, so checking out a bike was effortless.  I appreciated the little reminders on the handlebars, which are helpful to frequent and infrequent riders alike.  The bikes allow the rider to sit comfortably upright with good visibility (unlike the typical road bike) and the step-through design makes mounting and dismounting easy.  I find them well-balanced and easy to maneuver at low speed, which is essential in city traffic to avoid putting one's foot down constantly.

I began on the South Street bike path, which was a bit difficult to access because the situation in front of the Governor's Island ferry terminal is always a bit chaotic.  There is no sidewalk or bike path in front, and pedestrians and cyclists attempt to squeeze together near the edge as motorists accelerate past onto the FDR Drive.  Once I was on the path, riding was quite pleasant.  I encountered a few pedestrians walking on the path, but I just went around them.  There were a few locations where the path abruptly ended because of construction.  Some had better-marked detours than others did.

When I reached Montgomery Street, I wanted to turn left so I pulled off to the right and waited for the light to change, not entirely certain whether I was doing it correctly.  An NYPD van came zooming out of the DOT parking lot on Pier 36 and I felt like a sitting duck.  It passed me without incident.

I found an empty rack on Henry & Grand and deposited my bicycle, feeling as though I had done a service to the community.  I walked a few blocks before finding another rack with only one working bike, thus negating my contribution to the neighborhood.  It was a warm day and plenty of people were riding bikes, but I saw no one on a CitiBike until I reached the business district again.  (Clearly, the peak flow is from the residential Lower East Side toward job-dense areas.)  On Water Street, I encountered a red light every block or two; I think that encouraging cycling will require traffic signal timing to take into account the convenience of bicyclists and not only motor vehicle throughput.  Another possible solution would be to allow bicyclists to proceed after yielding to pedestrians (the "Idaho stop"), which has been implemented in at least a few cities.

My lunchtime ride was fun and allowed me to venture beyond the range of my usual lunchtime walk.  Perhaps I should join simply for that reason.  The ability to grab a bike spontaneously has a lot of appeal and I know it would be useful to me on a daily basis if the system covered most of Manhattan.

As I witnessed, a challenge that all bikeshare systems face to some extent is unbalanced demand, which is typically dealt with by redistributing bicycles with bicycle trailers, trucks or vans.  Over the long term, this can be addressed by balancing residential and commercial development across the city, which has the added benefit of making more efficient use of the transportation system as a whole (trains, buses and roadways too).  Aside from bicycle availability, some people worry about helmets not being supplied or required but I think that is the wrong focus.  Making it safer and easier to bicycle has attracted people back to the streets, and the resulting "safety in numbers" has made everyone more safe.

Summary of Citi Bike experiences

I have taken multiple Citi Bike rides recently, but have not been able to sit down and post them until now. As such, this will be a summary of multiple rides I have taken.

It is important to say that I rarely bike. I don't own a bike, and my neighborhood, Jackson Heights in Queens, has only a few bike lanes and no Citi Bike coverage. Generally speaking, it is somewhat rare to see anyone but food delivery people cycling in my area. I enjoyed riding a bike recreationally in high school, but was never particularly good at it, and didn't ride at all from approximately 2005 to 2014.

General Observations on the Bike
The Citi Bikes, if nothing else, are distinctive. Bright blue with impossible-to-miss branding, they stand out. I like that they foster an upright riding posture; I don't much love the idea of hunching over like a racer. My problem is the weight of the bikes. While this probably makes them sturdier/hardier, it comes with disadvantages. It's not even about top speed so much--most people riding a Citi Bike are probably not looking to break speed records, nor are they riding in conditions that really allow for it. But to me, the weight of the Citi Bikes makes them rather hard to get going from a full stop, and they can be wobbly and difficult to maneuver at low speeds. This is important because riding on city streets is a stop-and-go affair. It's particularly frightening for me as an inexperienced cyclist to find myself wobbly while avoiding a vehicle, not to mention those times I had difficulty getting up to speed as an angry taxi driver was bearing down on me. I would favor a lighter/more nimble design, keeping in mind other criteria such as durability.

Checking out a Bike

Most of my time riding a Citi Bike has been as a member. However, on my initial two trips, I used the console to purchase a day pass. I found the process generally slow and frustrating, as the interface is unresponsive and cumbersome, and my code didn't even work the first time I tried to use it.

Checking out a bike has been easy and seamless with a members key fob.

Returning a Bike.

Bicycles sometimes need an extra-firm shove to actually lock. It's not too difficult, assuming the user does due diligence and actually checks the light. On one of my trips (detailed below), I found a bike that was not checked in properly. I don't know how long it was there or how much in fines the previous rider was charged.





Trips

A few trips I took on Citi Bike include:

• City Hall to Hell's Kitchen
• I was meeting a friend for dinner in Hell's Kitchen, who ended up running late, so to take advantage of my extra time I decided to use Citi Bike, going across Rector Street, up the Greenway, and then across 48th Street. The Greenway was as pleasant, if long, ride, with only a few joggers blocking my path in the bike line. The hardest part was getting ON the Greenway. Signage was confusing, and I ended up trapped in the median of West Street, with cars pushing past me in all directions, until the light changed and I could get a clear path. This was rather harrowing as it was my first Citi Bike trip.
•  48th/10th to Rockefeller Center
• After a short night out with some friends, it was time to return home. Normally I would walk to the E train at 50th Street, but due to service changes, it was running over the F. Being too lazy to walk four avenues, I decided to take Citi Bike. To me, this is where Citi Bike's utility shines: it can address the first/last mile problem of transit, especially crosstown. Uptown/downtown trips will probably be faster by transit than by bike, but crosstown buses are notoriously slow, making cycling an excellent alternative. Upon approaching the dock, I saw that one of the bikes was not properly re-racked. I made sure to lock it before choosing my own bike.
• 23rd/8th to 49th/8th
• Dinner after fieldwork for work. The stretch from 23rd to 40th was largely pleasant, being in a buffered bike lane. However, mixing zones for left turns were a little problematic, and cars didn't want to let me in. This was exacerbated from 40th-42nd, where the bike lanes become (useless) sharrows in front of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. This, to me, is the most important type of place to have protected bike lanes, because cyclists need extra protection from the increased car traffic, where taxis are fighting for riders coming out of the terminal. However, it feels like DOT took a look at the situation, said "this is too hard," and put in sharrows to make it look like they at least tried. Once I passed the Port Authority, the buffered lane returned, but pedestrian traffic overflowed into the bike lane. I would widen the sidewalk, even at the expense of a traffic lane.
• 57th/Broadway to 49th/8th
• Broadway was a breeze here: there was a protecting buffer from traffic, few pedestrians interfering in the bike lane, and separate traffic signal phases for bikes and automobile traffic. The biggest problem was 49th street: that small stretch took longer than all of Broadway, because there was no real demarcated bike lane and I had to battle through snarled traffic and inattentive/overaggressive drivers. 

Summary:

• The bike checkout system is easy to use if you are an annual member, but cumbersome as a visitor
• The bikes themselves are comfortable but slow and unwieldy
• Crosstown travel is one of the most tempting ways to use Citi Bike, but more bike infrastructure (real protected, or at least demarcated, lanes, not "sharrows" which are easily ignored) is needed.
• Mixing zones are stressful for non-pro riders
• DOT should seriously examine tough areas like the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Penn Station, et al for ways to physically separate bikes from cars even in challenging traffic situations.