New Redesigned Citi Bikes To Hit NYC Streets This Year

New submitter Robertoswins writes: 1,000 new redesigned Citi Bikes will be hitting the streets of New York City this summer with a slimmer redesign. Designed by Olympic racing bike designer Ben Serrota, the new bikes will start rolling out in a week. Another 1,400 units of the new bikes will be added during the company's expansion into Brooklyn and Queens later this year.

Comments

and shortly thereafter

[Anonymous Coward]

All women of reproduction age will be required to report to the nearest Planned Parenthood for sterilization.

Now if you're in Colorado, and pay attention to candidates for governor, you might get the joke. The rest of you will just have to wonder "WTF"?

Re:and shortly thereafter

[Anonymous Coward]

wtf?

Re:and shortly thereafter

[radl33t]

A few years ago a tea party politician in Colorado opined that bike sharing programs were part of a liberal U.N. conspiracy. Like a real conspiracy orchaistrated by some shadowy cabal.

omgponies

[rmdingler]

Right?

I just awakened from a coma and it's the fourth month's fool?

Ride one in January

[Dorianny]

The real problem with the bikes in New York and anywhere else that far North is that for 4 - 6 months out of the year it is simply too cold or too wet for anyone but insane bike messengers to ride around. All the money and effort that has gone into redesigning the traffic system for this seasonal commuting option is simply insane. The program would make much more sense in cities with milder weather.

Re:Ride one in January

[Harlequin80]

What redesign has gone into the traffic system?

We have an equivalent here in Brisbane and all you have are these stands with the bikes attached to them and you ride them from one place to the other. So the design work involved picking where you wanted the stands. I'm sure there is also some low level modelling around where bikes move from and to so you know where to send the pickup truck...

Re:Ride one in January

[Dorianny]

What redesign has gone into the traffic system?

Too keep the bike riders safe from the crazy NY cab drivers the avenues were modified to place the parking lanes in between the traffic and the bike lanes. In some places the number of traffic lanes were reduced to expand the bike lanes. It is great in the summer but as I mentioned 4 - 6 months of the year these are practically private roads for bike messengers.

Re:Ride one in January

[Anonymous Coward]

Alright then? Get the cars off the street. NYC has a comprehensive public transportation system. Shut the cars off and leave them in the parking garages.

Re:Ride one in January

[Harlequin80]

Wow. I assume there must be some kind of bollard between the parking lane and the cycle path otherwise people would just park over the bike lane? That would be a significant engineering exercise then.

That said I doubt it was just done for these citicycle things. If you can make your city more friendly to bicycles then you would hope to be able to reduce traffic congestion and load. Brisbane doesn't get too cold but it does get stinking hot in summer. So most major city buildings now have been retrofitted with larger showers in the basement as well as cycle lockups. This happened because we have seen an explosion in cyclists and the state and local govt has built a number of dedicated cycle ways which run from the suburbs all the way into the city.

Have a look here - https://www.google.com.au/maps... all the green are dedicate bike paths.

Re:Ride one in January

[beakerMeep]

Over the last 10-15 years NYC has significantly redesigned a lot of streets to fit bike lanes. They lowered the speed limit from 30 to 25 (past year or two), and added a lot more pedestrian stuff too I think. They also redesigned some traffic flow regarding right and left turns. (I am not sure all that was about bikes though).

Here's an article from 2010:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes....

Most Citi bikes go ununsed as far as I can tell. Bikes are good, but I am not sure this was a good use of resources and space. I personally would've rather seen cleaner, faster, quieter and more reliable subways than more advert-bikes. But it's not so sexy for citibank to donate a tiny fraction of the MTA's budget for some billboards/posters.

That said, citibikes are far from the worst thing to waste money and time and space on. I just dont think it's clear if they are really a net positive.

Re:Ride one in January

[unimacs]

Lots of people ride year round in similar or even colder climates than New York's. People don't stop walking when it gets cold or wet, do they? You just have to dress appropriately.

FWIW, I live in Minneapolis and also ride year round. I'm not a crazy messenger either, just a run of the mill IT guy.

Re:Ride one in January

[Anonymous Coward]

Most cars are sitting on the side of the road, in garages, or in parking lots most of the time too. I only drive my car 30 minutes every 24 hours.

A tourist bus showing up and renting 45 bikes could dent the inventory if they stock enough for resident demand.
A functional system needs to be prepared to take advantage of the tourist dollars.

Re:Ride one in January

[Anonymous Coward]

I was never a bike messenger, but I used to ride in all weathers in NY. It was rather a point of pride that I'd ride when it was so cold the lubricant got sludgy. Of course, a committed rider that might be expected to have their own bike...
On the other hand, anything that makes a city better for bikers makes it better for everyone except those driving through. It was Robert Moses' philosophy to elevate the status of those driving through and to denigrate neighborhoods. I'm glad that's over. And if we swing a little too far, and make it hostile for cars, I'm fine with that.

Re:Ride one in January

[speedlaw]

You win. The Bike lanes have destroyed traffic flow and removed parking. Lowering the speed limit to 25 is a stealth tax outside Park Slope and Manhattan. I drove across NYC below canal street, and the tight streets, never great, were gridlock as half of the road was marked for bicycles. No bikes, hundreds of cars. Next up, mad cameras to enforce Zero Vision.

Re:Ride one in January

[Applehu Akbar]

"Most cars are sitting on the side of the road, in garages, or in parking lots most of the time too. I only drive my car 30 minutes every 24 hours."

So wouldn't there be a market for an app that would keep a lot of those idle cars in circulation, making rental income for their owners instead of occupying scarce city parking spaces?

--Oh, wait - this is New York City, where the medallion cabdrivers would send you to sleep with the fishes for even bringing up the idea.

Re:Ride one in January

[Harlequin80]

I think though you are talking an order of magnitude difference in cost, or more. I would expect that citibikes are relatively cheap in the grand scheme of infrastructure and any modifications to roads will spread across to private cycles as well.

Looking at your link the change to the road ways is significant though. Certainly much greater than the equivalent changes here in Aus. If you are going to make that level of change then you want want to have a support network in place for them as well.

This is how we do them in Brisbane - http://architecture.org.nz/wp-...
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/2...

Basically just paint.

Re:Ride one in January

[mjwx]

The real problem with the bikes in New York and anywhere else that far North is that for 4 - 6 months out of the year it is simply too cold or too wet for anyone but insane bike messengers to ride around. All the money and effort that has gone into redesigning the traffic system for this seasonal commuting option is simply insane. The program would make much more sense in cities with milder weather.

I live in Perth, Western Australia and we have very mild winters (low daytime temperatures are in the mid teens). My commutes were faster in Winter when all the cyclists were in their nice, warm cars instead of on their bikes. They dont even want to ride when it's just a little bit cold so massive redesigns dont work here either.

Oh, and it's winter here right now. My drive to work is consistently 5-10 minutes faster.

Re:Ride one in January

[Midnight Thunder]

Looks like car2go is available, just not in Manhattan: https://www.car2go.com/en/newy... . The model is similar to bixi, except there a mileage fee if I understand.

Re:Ride one in January

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't kid yourself, Uber is huge in NYC, and way off-topic

Re:Ride one in January

[spire3661]

As it should be. Roads DOMINATE the landscape, pedestrians are given tiny alleys to move through. Its time we start re-thinking roads to include a LOT more alternative access.

Re:Ride one in January

[beakerMeep]

I think though you are talking an order of magnitude difference in cost, or more. I would expect that citibikes are relatively cheap in the grand scheme of infrastructure and any modifications to roads will spread across to private cycles as well.

Oh, definitely. Sorry, didn't mean to imply otherwise. The MTA budget is in the tens of billions, while the bikes are in the tens of millions. But the MTA moves 8 million+ per day while citibikes are ridden ~35,000 times per day.

I think Citi foots most of the upfront cost for the bikes but they are far from free to use: https://www.citibikenyc.com/pr...

Compare that to a $3 subway ride.

I am all for people riding their bikes, but a citibank advertisement is no substitute for a proper, functioning mass transit system. But from Citi's perspective, as an brand-awareness advertising campaign, I would be that the bikes are an unquestionable success. I just hope we aren't wasting too much time on a feel-good fix, and not enough on the real needs of the city. ( The MTA is thought to be $30B in debt: http://www.capitalnewyork.com/... )

Anyways, thanks for your links, hope to visit your country someday. Now I know where to bike!

Re:Ride one in January

[Anonymous Coward]

"Most Citi bikes go ununsed as far as I can tell."
Not true - Each Citibike averages 6 trips per day which is higher than any other bike share in the World

Re:Ride one in January

[rossdee]

"People don't stop walking when it gets cold or wet, do they?"

I walk to work 99% of the time, and here it gets colder in the winter than NYC.

But biking would be dangerous on ice and snow covered streets.

Re:Ride one in January

[beakerMeep]

Interesting stat Thanks. I may certainly have the wrong impression about usage. Do you have a link to your source though? Would like to read more.

Re:Ride one in January

[nine-times]

Most Citi bikes go ununsed as far as I can tell.

I wonder if you're really paying attention. They seem to get used a lot as far as I can tell. I see people riding them all the time.

I personally would've rather seen cleaner, faster, quieter and more reliable subways than more advert-bikes.

It's not clear to me that it's an either/or sort of situation. The bikes probably cost a tiny fraction of what it would cost to overhaul the subway.

Re:Ride one in January

[unimacs]

I live in a much colder and snowier climate than NYC but I ride year round. I have studded tires to deal with the ice but many people here don't bother (though I recommend them).

Even if you don't have studded tires, the streets are plowed and clear on most days. The bike paths are plowed too. There are definitely days where it's more treacherous and you'd want to either stay home or find another way to get around, but again, that's not necessary most of the time.

Re:Ride one in January

[grahamsz]

Surely if you see a lane that's completely empty, you are likely to consider switching to the mode of transit that can use it.

Bikes a huge net win to cities because they are far cheaper to support than cars. Without taking action like this then nobody will want to use the, but even that's not enough - I can depend on my city ploughing bike trails and lanes (sometimes before they've even ploughed the road) and all the city buses are equipped with bike racks should I decide it's just too crappy out to ride home. Once it reaches that level of support then people do use them. I think about half the people in my office ride in to work in good weather, though certainly fewer when it's raining or snowing.

Re:Ride one in January

[dryeo]

Would you really trust any random stranger with your car? Generally people don't look after other peoples stuff as well as their own.

Re:Ride one in January

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm Dutch. The majority of people here go to school and college on bike all year round. The cold, snow and rain suck but you can dress up for it and once you start paddling you'll be warm enough. You get used to it and it is still faster then cheaper then car or public transport.

Re:Ride one in January

[dryeo]

It probably depends on the type of snow you get. I grew up in Vancouver and as kids biked a lot but no way could you bike in the wet sticky snow that often falls (or at least used to fall) in Vancouver. Most people can't even drive in it, especially the ones from back east who would brag about how good they could drive in the snow.

Re:Ride one in January

[unimacs]

Sure, some types of snow is harder to ride in than others, but how many days do you really get enough snow that it's an issue in Vancouver? A half dozen a year? That leaves a lot of winter days that are totally fine for riding.

Re:Ride one in January

[dryeo]

Lately it has been close to zero days of snow. When I was a kid it was often weeks. Of course we get a lot of rain which I always hated for biking due to wearing glasses and there was one time I thought I lost an eye due to a hail stone.

Re:Ride one in January

[dunkelfalke]

Seriously? "that far north"?
New York is the same latitude as Madrid, Naples or Thessaloniki.

Re: Ride one in January

[Anonymous Coward]

Those bikes are for the usurper class immigrants you insensitive clod.

Re:Ride one in January

[Shimbo]

Here is a good report: https://www.itdp.org/wp-conten...
New York isn't top though, but it's one of the better ones.

Re:Ride one in January

[Zappy]

NY is 10’ more south than Amsterdam, we bike al year round weather be damned.

https://www.google.com.au/maps...

Re:Ride one in January

[hvdh]

Well, that's quite expensive. Hamburg (Germany) has a similar system, but is cheaper. With one registration (5€ / 5.60USD, converted to credits) you can take up to two bikes (four after a phone call).
The first 30 minutes of each bike rental are free, afterwards it is 4.80€ / 5USD per hour (billed per minute) or 12€ / 13.50USD per day (whatever is cheaper).
There is no other cost like membership fees. Owners of public transport commutation tickets get 25% rebate.
Rental stations are at near all tourist sites and at most central subway stations. You can easily bike from one interesting place to another, each time putting the bikes back and getting new ones when taking off.
This works well for tourists, a family/group of four pays 5€ once and can ride all day long for their full stay.

Re:Ride one in January

[TheRaven64]

Biking when it's snowy or icy isn't that dangerous, as long as your bike is in good condition and you've had a lot of practice cycling. I suspect that neither of these are entirely true for users of this scheme.

Re:Ride one in January

[fang0654]

I ride the bikes pretty much year round. The cold weather isn't really that big of a deal if you have gloves, and some kind of face mask. If you don't, then you'll freeze to death.

Re:Ride one in January

[fang0654]

I never considered it expensive - I pay for an annual pass (although I just now noticed it got bumped up $50). So even at $150, given that I ride an average of 2 trips per day (year round), that's less than $0.20 per ride, compared to the $3 subway ride I no longer take. On top of that, I'm pretty sure citibike isn't city-funded.

Re:Ride one in January

[emj]

I live in Perth, Western Australia and we have very mild winters (low daytime temperatures are in the mid teens). My commutes were faster in Winter when all the cyclists were in their nice, warm cars instead of on their bikes. They dont even want to ride when it's just a little bit cold so massive redesigns dont work here either.

Oh, and it's winter here right now. My drive to work is consistently 5-10 minutes faster.

I'm sorry but your views has nothing to do with facts, we have about 50 000 people going by bike on a bridge in Stockholm if all those people went by car you wouldn't be able to get across at all. This image says something about the space needed for cars vs bicycles: http://sustainablecitiescollec... But it's even worse in intersections, even small intersections can easily handle 10x to 20x the amount of persons by bike than in cars.

Re:Ride one in January

[SirSlud]

They have a similar bikeshare system in Montreal and it's wildly popular and people use them even in the winter - it's only if it's too snowy that they don't get used. People who think it's impossible to bike in winter are just a subset of the people who don't use them in the summer. And I certainly don't see people saying we shouldn't spend money on motorcycle licensing, laws, traffic considerations, parking spots, regulations, etc just because they can't be used all winter.

Re:Ride one in January

[Coren22]

I love the pic in your linked article. The illegally parked van really highlights how much the vehicles care about the bike lane.

Re:Ride one in January

[Coren22]

As an East Coaster, I don't think anyone on this coast can actually drive in the snow. My pickup with offroad tires does ok, but it is rather disturbing when the large trucks pass me on packed snow. Many people over here think they can drive in snow, but lose control on the first turn/stop.

Re:Ride one in January

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes because a few hours of barely snow covered streets compare to three feet of snow that stays for months... Also driving on ice is different at -18C than at -2C. The Nederland system is good, but there is a reason is doesn't work everywhere.

Re:Ride one in January

[Translation Error]

I use Citi Bike as the first/last part of my commute, between the train station and work, all year round. It's about .75 miles, and since it's not convenient (or economical) to take mass transit that short bit, it's a question of either walking in the cold or biking so I'm in it for a shorter time and generating more body heat.

I'll admit I don't bike when there's an inch or more snow on the ground or it's raining harder than a light drizzle, though.

Re:Ride one in January

[LMariachi]

How much snow do you get over there in Amsterdam? How many days per year does the temperature drop below freezing?

Latitude is not the only factor in a city's weather.

Re:Ride one in January

[mjwx]

I'm sorry but your views has nothing to do with facts

I'm sorry, but that has nothing to do with facts. And your link is from a clearly biased site. Also Stockholm is a very bad example as they're openly hostile to motorists, forcing traffic to go slower than it should be. Now about that bridge, a car is approximately 3-4 times longer than a bike but travels at an average speed that allows them to cover a distance in 1/3 to 1/4 of the time. In a hour, you'd get far more cars through than due to a higher average speed. This is for a car that does an average speed of 50 KPH, Cyclists average 15 KPH. Over the Sydney harbour bridge, which is 1.149 KM a cyclist will take 4:35 to cross, a car doing 50 will take 1:22, a car doing the speed limit of 70 will take 0.58. If you take 3 bikes for every car (which you cant) you're still not matching the same throughput as a car doing 20 KPH under the limit.

Beyond this, a cyclist doing 25 KPH or more under the prevailing traffic instantly becomes a rolling roadblock. This is why they slow down traffic, not that we'd ever expect cyclists to admit that

Also you have high occupancy, a bike can carry one person, a car can carry 4-9 and ends up occupying the same space as 2 bikes.

But it's even worse in intersections, even small intersections can easily handle 10x to 20x the amount of persons by bike than in cars.

If cyclists obeyed red lights like motorists, you'd get far less through.

I dislike cyclists as a motorist and pedestrian because they've got zero respect for other road users and the fact your post needs to attack all other road users to make you point demonstrates this. I've never had a cyclist admit to doing something wrong on the road, let alone apologise for it, compared to motorists who do apologise and pedestrians who always apologise.

Re:Ride one in January

[surd1618]

Snow is fine; I like riding in the snow. Ice can be bad though. I have slipped on ice, and I have ridden thousands of miles just in the last few years. However, most people are completely deterred by even a little rain, especially if it's cold out.

Fines for make believe racers

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully the NYPD will mace and taser (in that order) anyone asshole that has the audacity to wear racing gear but are not in a race...and don't even get me started about bikers that get in the turning lane.

Re: Fines for make believe racers

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you should get started on reading all the relevant sections of NYC Vehicles and Traffic which explains how turning vehicles are supposed to use turning lanes. This includes non powered an animal powered vehicles like the donkey cart you infest.

Re:Fines for make believe racers

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully the NYPD will mace and taser (in that order) anyone asshole that has the audacity to wear racing gear but are not in a race...

If men in tight pants make you feel funny in the swimsuit area, you should learn to enjoy it because it's perfectly natural for many people.

and don't even get me started about bikers that get in the turning lane.

Why not? The roads were built for them, not cars.

Re:Fines for make believe racers

[Anonymous Coward]

I realize you are trolling, but for those unaware: bicycles are vehicles and have the rights and responsibilities thereof. It is proper to make a left turn from the left turn lane by placing your bicycle in the middle of the turn lane, riding with the traffic until the turn is completed, and then joining the margin or bicycle lane thereafter. Alternately, you can dismount and cross on the crosswalk as a pedestrian.

Re:Fines for make believe racers

[sexconker]

Bikes do not have the responsibilities of any other vehicle.
Talk to me when they're registered and they obey stop signs and red lights.

Re:Fines for make believe racers

[Anonymous Coward]

Talk to me when they're registered and they obey stop signs and red lights.

The last three US cities I lived in required registration of bikes, varying from $10 per year to $10 per 4 year period. They all required bicycles to stop at stop signs and red lights... which is probably why they put stops signs on bike paths and some traffic signals had bike specific lights. I've seen all of these laws enforced. If they don't enforce them where you live, you should complain about having crappy police officers instead of creating some legal strawman to make you feel better about hating on some group.

Re:Fines for make believe racers

[simplypeachy]

I recently read that of all pedestrians injured in London from vehicles skipping red lights, 95% were the result of motor vehicles.

You are correct that bikes do not have the responsibilities of motor vehicles. They also do not have the mass nor speed of any other vehicle.

Re:Fines for make believe racers

[surd1618]

How are bicycles going to be registered? If it's going to be a placard on the frame, what if I switch all the parts to a new frame? Some people do this all the time. Maybe after TPP is law, and people aren't allowed to work on their bikes any more, we can ban all of the cyclists who don't have new bikes that they have to take to the Schwinn Center to change an inner tube. Or maybe we should make every cyclist wear a number on their back, because there's nothing dystopian about that. Frankly riding bikes has made me into much more of a libertarian (but NOT a US Libertarian).

Serotta, actually

[smellsofbikes]

Ben Serotta is the spelling, for what it's worth.
He built great frames, and a lot of people were sorry to see the company vanish after a merger. I'm glad he's found a new gig in the bike world, coz he's a nice guy.

Re:Serotta, actually

[Anonymous Coward]

Scuttle away newbie! Your correct spellings worry us not.

5/10 - Needs more summary.

[Anonymous Coward]

They're bicycles lent out by the city. I would have been nice to include that little fact in TFA or the summary.

Re:5/10 - Needs more summary.

[Anonymous Coward]

Especially because nydailynews.com is so annoying, I had redirected it to 127.0.0.1

Re:5/10 - Needs more summary.

[fang0654]

Except that they aren't. From their faq: Citi Bike is funded through private capital, sponsorship agreements, and revenues from users.

Nice, we've had this for a few years now.

[Predathar]

Montreal has had this for a few years (BIXI), hasn't been profitable yet but many people use it and enjoy it for the couple of months when it's available (usually early May to November if I remember correctly). https://montreal.bixi.com/

Re:Nice, we've had this for a few years now.

[ciaran2014]

It seems these systems have taken over the world in less than ten years:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:Nice, we've had this for a few years now.

[Anonymous Coward]

I live in midtown Manhattan surrounded by these stand and I have to say I hardly see any available, even in the winter they are very popular and not among the people you would think either. I regularly see business men and well dressed women using them in the morning.

That said I like to walk and New York is still not the safest place to ride a bike, not yet anyway. Had a co-worker loose all his teeth from a pothole never mind what I've seen cab doors do bikers passing.

Re:Nice, we've had this for a few years now.

[Eloking]

Yeah I was thinking about the similarity with Montreal's Bixi. And, actually, when you compare the bike they are almost identical : http://71.18.62.16/images/bixi...

Is this really a different company?

Re:Nice, we've had this for a few years now.

[Anonymous Coward]

It was the same company (a subsidiary) that got bought out by Motivate. So yes bikes have the same parentage

Re:Nice, we've had this for a few years now.

[Anonymous Coward]

I think Montreal's Bixi bikes would do better if Montreal's subways had been designed with the disabled in mind. That would have included thing like elevators and ramps, which would make bringing the bikes on the subway possible. Montreal's subway (metro, whatever...) is great, but it just seems such a shame that it's inaccessible to both sets of customers.

World famous Olympic racing bike designer...

[cahuenga]

This is like calling a jeweler to design your tank.

Re:World famous Olympic racing bike designer...

[TWX]

Really depends on what aspects of the bike he's working on.

The article mentions rider comfort. Granted, racers expect discomfort in their racing, but the bicycle designer still should make an effort to take what was excruciating and make it merely agonizing if possible. If the bicycle designer has worked out better ergonomics for the angles between the seat, pedals, and handlebars, and worked out how to make them more adjustable by the layperson to make the bike fit any given rider fairly well then it would make sense. If the race bike designer's name is being applied to give it some street cred, thats another matter.

Re:World famous Olympic racing bike designer...

[cahuenga]

Frame geometry is a well explored and long-term empirically proven science. This is ridiculous and pointless branding.

Re:World famous Olympic racing bike designer...

[Anonymous Coward]

Well yes, all bicycle innovation is basically branding these days. What frame geometry is as far from settled science as you can get though. There may have been one hundred years of empirical theory crafting but all it proves is we have no idea why what works does. Frame design is an art, and even at Olympic levels it's a poorly understood one.

Re:World famous Olympic racing bike designer...

[thegarbz]

So why don't you go ride a bike designed by some generic computer then?

Saying it's a well explored proven science is an utter load of garbage. Each bike offers different comfort levels, different performance characteristics and benefits in different scenarios. At some point you need a human involved in bike design, preferably someone who's done it before to actually sense check the resulting frame that your magical algorithm has spit out. One size does not fit all.

Re:World famous Olympic racing bike designer...

[radl33t]

But the Citibike is one size fits all.

Re:World famous Olympic racing bike designer...

[thegarbz]

Exactly the kind of solution that can't be shat out by a computer and is best left to designers of high performance custom frames.

Re:World famous Olympic racing bike designer...

[radl33t]

This is not a high performance custom frame. It is a steel tubed tank in the shape of a chair that has little in common with any famously designed road bike. There is no design expertise that will allow a single seat post adjustment to accommodate widely varying human anatomies. There is however probably a rigorously developed computer algorithm that can churn out a design that is nominally acceptable for a large range of body types. Furthermore, the new citibike looks to have an identical frame as the previous bikes, probably because its still the same bike, produced by the same company. Serotta added a hole in the seat, new gears, and a EU kickstand...

Re:World famous Olympic racing bike designer...

[thegarbz]

No but funny enough aerodynamics and weight are the computer solvable problems, while every other component such as ride comfort accommodating a variety of different body types is precisely the job which should be left to someone who ... has designed bikes for a variety of different body types.

Though I did actually have a similar though to you. I can't see what's revolutionary about this. It looks like minor tweaks at best, but not having ridden one I can't really comment. They look different from the equivalent bicycles in my city.... which can only be a good thing given that riding ours can only be compared to some form of medieval torture.

Slashvertisement much?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm all for public transport bikes, but realistically not much is newsworthy here. Yes the bikes have been updated but the changes are underwhelming. And seriously, the biggest change is "a hole in the middle to stop the saddles from getting soaked with rain"? That's not an uncommon seat style since it prevents bike-related erectile dysfunction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/health/nutrition/serious-riders-your-bicycle-seat-may-affect-your-love-life.html

so...

[Anonymous Coward]

Kind of like the BIXI we have up here.

Re:so...

[Midnight Thunder]

It is essentially the same system, created in Montreal, Canada. The original company running the show went bankrupt from what would appear to be mismanagement (see here). The new technology owner can be found here: http://www.publicbikesystem.co...

Re:so...

[Midnight Thunder]

/. Got confused by the HTML, the article covering the bankruptcy of the original entity: http://www.richter.ca/en/news-...

NYC DOES have some nice biking, but more needed!

[Irate Engineer]

There are some really cool areas to bike in NYC, but they are not well interconnected. The High Line is beautiful, but is only 1.5 miles long. A nice walk, but not really worth breaking out a bike. Brooklyn Bridge, same deal. Central Park is bike-able, mostly, as is a lot of the shore front, but it is all scattered in short stretches which are more suited to walking. If you have the courage to mix it up on street level, rock on, there are a lot of painted bike lanes, but you run a heavy risk of sudden crushing death by a taxi helmed by someone from Durka-durkastan. At best, you're going to be weaving in and out of stopped cars for miles and miles, breathing the heady fumes of stopped taxies and buses.

Map apps should integrate with civic bike shares

[RalphBNumbers]

Citi Bike in New York, Divvy in Chicago, Bixi in Montreal, etc...
Civic bike share systems are becoming a big deal in a lot of cities these days, and it would really be helpful if Google Maps, Apple Maps, MS/Bing Maps, Nokia Maps, etc... would start integrating with them as a first class utility like other public transit options (available in all apps, considered in routing, etc...) rather than relegating each city's system to it's own app.

what? no battery assist?

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

Why are battery assisted bikes so expensive? I looked at one for 2000$. Even the conversion kits are 300$ without the battery. Why?

Re:what? no battery assist?

[Anonymous Coward]

probably because of the low volume and the need to meet engineering requirements such as weatherproofing. if you want to slap together something using baling wire and parts from a grainger catalog go right ahead.

Re:what? no battery assist?

[Anonymous Coward]

New York City is quite flat, there's no need for battery assist.

Re:what? no battery assist?

[ZombieEngineer]

Do a bit of research and you should get the price down.

I have a friend who is a type I diabetic with a number of complications (occasional dizzy spells) which rules out being able to drive a car or ride a regular bike.

I was able to source a kit adult tricycle for about AUD$300 and a bike conversion kit from http://dillengerelectricbikes.... for AUD$700 (replace the front hub). There are some shipping costs which I haven't included, assembly took about a day and a half (one day for the trike, 4 hours for the conversion kit). I have come across adult trikes are used by the maintenance crews on industrial sites.

In hindsight given that it was a trike I could of gone sealed lead acid battery conversion kit (AUD$360 - includes electric hub, battery, controller and all the components). Providing that you are moderately competent with hand tools such as a spanner and hex keys you could replicate what I did for AUD$800 / USD$600.

Re:what? no battery assist?

[monkeyxpress]

I think it is just because it is such a niche market. I ride a bike regularly, and did so in Auckland which is quite hilly. When I started out I thought an electric bike would be really great. Then I just got fitter and it ceased to be a problem. I think this is the experience of many people, even those who are a bit older. In a flat city I can easily get around at a speed that is scary enough so I wouldn't bother with the weight and hassle of electric.

I suspect there is still a good market for them though and as the general cycling market grows more affordable products should become available.

Why does the guy look like it's his maiden voyage?

[Anonymous Coward]

The guy on the picture in the linked article couldn't look more tense, like it's his first time on a bicycle without training wheels, but according to the caption it's Jay Walder, CEO of Citi Bike. What's up with that?

Regarding the new design: Why didn't they completely enclose the chain? The bikes have internal gear hubs, no derailleurs, so they could've prevented oil stains on the pants and dirt on the chain with one simple modification.

Re:Map apps should integrate with civic bike share

[Midnight Thunder]

Check out Transit app (http://transitapp.com), which does do this. - I am not affiliated in an way.

Re:Map apps should integrate with civic bike share

[RalphBNumbers]

Lots of apps do it, that's not what I'm asking for. I want it integrated so that it's just automatically there in every app that uses a map. So, for instance, I can look up a restaurant in Yelp, and see where I should drop off a bike nearby without switching apps and finding the place again.

actual stats: 35k trips, 80k miles a day

[SuperBanana]

Most Citi bikes go ununsed as far as I can tell.

You tell wrong. There are 6,000 bikes in the system and there's roughly 35,000 daily users.

I personally would've rather seen cleaner, faster, quieter and more reliable subways than more advert-bikes. But it's not so sexy for citibank to donate a tiny fraction of the MTA's budget for some billboards/posters.

Thank goodness we have urban transit planners, people with degrees in this stuff. They are heavily, heavily pushing bicycle transit and bike shares. Not because it's 'sexy', but because it works.

You can plop down a bike share station in a matter of days or weeks (the biggest hassle are the community meetings) which affords enormous flexibility; it takes months to redo a bus route, and decades to plan a subway line. Bike share bikes convert a fair number of people over to bike ownership, too - and the presence or more bike riders on the city's streets makes the streets safer for everyone.

Re:actual stats: 35k trips, 80k miles a day

[beakerMeep]

To be clear, I think that's 35,000 daily usages, not users. And most are under 30 mins (I think). But I did mean to make sure it was clear I was only speaking anecdotally, "as far as I can tell" -- I certainly may have a skewed perspective from the stations I see.

Thank goodness we have urban transit planners, people with degrees in this stuff. They are heavily, heavily pushing bicycle transit and bike shares. Not because it's 'sexy', but because it works.

I couldn't agree more. I am in awe of what they accomplish, to be honest. But at the same time, I can see they are struggling. From what I have read the MTA is $15-32B in the hole. So even though these bikes are a drop in the bucket, it is easy to be overly sensitive about the city wasting money, and the ever forward march of advertising. I also think it's good to look at them in that larger context.

You can plop down a bike share station in a matter of days or weeks (the biggest hassle are the community meetings) which affords enormous flexibility; it takes months to redo a bus route, and decades to plan a subway line.

An interesting point for sure.

Bike share bikes convert a fair number of people over to bike ownership, too - and the presence or more bike riders on the city's streets makes the streets safer for everyone.

Both of these statements seem unquantifiable to me -- I just say this because you have a good reply that seeks to show the actual number of bikes in comparison to my admittedly anecdotal statement. I have seen stats regarding "protected bike lanes" making things safer, but that is a subtle difference to "more bikes make everything safer" Here are the stats, I assume this is what you are referring to: http://www.streetsblog.org/201... But I really dont know where you could find data on these bikes converting people to ownership.

Re:Why does the guy look like it's his maiden voya

[unimacs]

We have what I'm assuming is the original design (in Minneapolis). The chains are enclosed enough that you'd have to be be pretty klutzy to get your pants greasy. i'm guessing the reason they aren't fully enclosed is just for easy of maintenance. They use chain tensioners which means you'd need a fairly large chain case to enclose the chain along the whole path.

Bound to fail in a country like the U.S

[Anonymous Coward]

There is no other country that has a greater hate and despise of cyclists than the U.S, and where drivers think they own the road, and that roads are for cars and not traffic in general. To the Americans it's also a merit to drive a big car and burn gas and blow fumes, so how will this ever succeed? These bicycles will get trashed and vandalized, stand unused at best.

Re:Bound to fail in a country like the U.S

[neminem]

There are very few cities *less* like the US than NYC.

Granted, I'm sure the bikes *will* get trashed and vandalized, it is after all NYC, but not because people like cars and hate bikes. You have to be *mad* to drive a car in NYC (well, Manhattan anyway, that mostly where I've been in NYC), and even madder to drive a large one, unless by large you mean basically a tank, which would be pretty much the only way to get pedestrians not to walk right in front of you whenever they want.

Re:Why does the guy look like it's his maiden voya

[wonkey_monkey]

What's up with that?

How do you know that's not his happy bike-riding face?

Re:NYC DOES have some nice biking, but more needed

[Schezar]

What? Have you ever even been to New York?

The High Line isn't for biking. The bike paths are open and don't get caught in traffic even during heavy commute times. The shore paths are mostly complete, and on the west side it goes from top to bottom with fully bike-friendly wide paved paths.

There are massive bike path networks along the parkways in the Bronx. There are long divided bike paths going as far out as the Rockaways and Flushing.

I bike from Queens to downtown Manhattan every day for my commute. It's about 7.5 miles, and I have easily five different ways that consist almost entirely of safe, clear bike paths.

But...

[Ulric]

Are they self-driving?

Re:Map apps should integrate with civic bike share

[Midnight Thunder]

Yup, that would be cool. They really need a plugin architecture, similar to the custom keyboards or maybe even an ability to specify layers via a URL, similar to calendars?