Beginning in July, New York City will be even easier to navigate without a car. Citi Bike, a new bike-sharing program, will offer 10,000 bicycles throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. It will be the largest bike share system in the United States.
Bikers will have a choice of daily, weekly or annual memberships. After purchasing a pass from a self-service kiosk, you can unlock a bike and ride to one of the system’s 600 stations, strategically placed throughout the city based on density and proximity to other transit, like subways or buses. The program also took thousands of suggestions for station locations from neighborhood residents.
Short trips will be quick and easy. Above, sample times for bike rides from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village.
Citi Bike is designed to help provide a new alternative for short trips; 54 percent of all trips taken by New Yorkers are less than two miles. The bikes also help extend the reach of the public transit system, especially to areas like newly developing waterfronts that don’t have close subway access.
Run by Alta Bicycle Share, a company that also runs bike sharing programs in Boston and Washington, the program was sponsored by Citibank and Mastercard without any funding from city government.
Main photo credit: Citi Bike
Secondary image credit:City of New York