Bloomberg Citibike program starts

[Red Solo Cup 11]

Was in Manhattan last week, driving around, it's hard to avoid noticing the Citibike rental stations have been rolled out in some pretty prominent places.  Let's see how long this monument to Bloomberg nanny state ism survives. The NY Post had a good article the other day, here is the money shot:

 

[Urban Grunt 44]

As soon as someone gets killed using them bikes they should be banned...............if it only saves just one life, it's worth it.

[johnnyrebel70 0]

As soon as someone gets killed using them bikes they should be banned...............if it only saves just one life, it's worth it.

 

One person was already hurt running a red light on a bike and was struck by a car

[Red Solo Cup 11]

The bikes reportedly weigh 45 pounds. Probably ride like a Mack truck.

[voyager9 3,434]

I'm not a fan of Bloomberg but what's wrong with this program? The city isn't forcing anyone to use them, right? Seems it would be good for a city and the people if done right.

[Red Solo Cup 11]

Just seems suicidal mixing more bikes into NYC traffic.

[Urban Grunt 44]

You can't be trusted to regulate your intake of salt and soda and now your trusted to ride a bike in NYC.....wtf.

[Duppie 73]

I personally believe it will be a success if solely because so many tourist are very familiar with the concept.to get New Yorkers on board may prove to be a challenge however.The BIXI program failed in Amsterdam because it became prohibitively expensive fishing the bikes out of the canals and some of the many stolen units even showed up in Romania.

[BlueLineFish 615]

I'm not a fan of Bloomberg but what's wrong with this program? The city isn't forcing anyone to use them, right? Seems it would be good for a city and the people if done right.

A lot. The racks are in areas where parking is a problem. More people riding bikes that don't know the laws. Heavy bikes are hard to ride. The bikes are easy to steal from the arms and are expensive to replace.

[Nickel1911 0]

I'm not a fan of Bloomberg but what's wrong with this program? The city isn't forcing anyone to use them, right? Seems it would be good for a city and the people if done right.

They're not forcing anyone to use them YET. Once the program takes off and gets a foot hold, they'll find a way to legislate their constituents to use them. Smh

[matty 810]

Stuff White (Liberal) People Like right there.

In the DC area there's a similar program that's been around awhile, which makes a little more sense because there's a smaller tourist area and there's already a lot of bike lanes and paved trails around.

If the bikes have any salable metal components to them, they will quickly disappear into the stolen scrap market.  Or into the rivers. What're they gonna do with these things when there's a decent sized snowfall, like 6"+?

[BlueLineFish 615]

I am not sure if they get removed for winter but a snowplow through a set of bike and racks would be hilarious

[Duppie 73]

I am not sure if they get removed for winter but a snowplow through a set of bike and racks would be hilarious

I would think they would have to.....In Montreal and Paris.It's packed up for the winter but I venture the usually get quite a bit more snow than we do on a regular basis.

[Krdshrk 3,878]

I actually think it's a good idea.  I'm contemplating getting the yearly pass myself.  I commute every day into Penn Station and have to get to a client site or my office within a decent amount of time.  Instead of using Subway or Bus which not always is in the area where I gotta go, I could jump on one of the bikes.

 

Yes, the bikes are heavy.  They're not the fastest bikes as well, but I'm ok with that.  You also can't take a bike out and ride it all day - there's a 45 minute limit or they start charging you extra... though you could potentially get it stolen if you stop somewhere and don't lock it.  The time limit is 30 minutes if you have the daily or weekly passes.

[H.M. Murdock 0]

I am not sure if they get removed for winter but a snowplow through a set of bike and racks would be hilarious

 

Haha, RAISE PLOW!  But the plow won't go any higher!

[Red Solo Cup 11]

Apparently Citibank (read: US Taxpayer) has paid the up-front cost in exchange for their annoying logo everywhere.

So this project stands a better chance of making money than the DC thing.

I think you have to be a "bike person" to like this.

[Maksim 1,504]

Apparently Citibank (read: US Taxpayer) has paid the up-front cost in exchange for their annoying logo everywhere.

So this project stands a better chance of making money than the DC thing.

I think you have to be a "bike person" to like this.

 

Oh stop it. =)  Pretty much every bank had paid back all of the Tarp Money, and the US Taxpayers made out billons on it.

 

I personally think this program is good for New York.   Better bike rentals over more cars.  More revenue for the city, which means less money should come from others. 

 

Why are the bikes so heavy though?

[Bambinomontana 0]

I work in the city and was a messenger when I was younger.  I noticed a lot of people leave their bikes attached to poles and sometimes even abandoned them there. The wheels and parts get stolen from them and all that is left is the frame, a lot of artists like to make art out of them. Riding a bicycle in the city is not easy or safe and I don't think tourist should have access to them. Biggest problem is see, is that there's not enough parking in the city, as it is.

[Krdshrk 3,878]

Well the bike racks are there.  A lot of the places I see them in Midtown are no-parking areas anyway or commercial parking only.  I think they're made intentionally heavy and slow so people don't steal them.  Also - they're not really for tourist rentals.  They're more for commuters.

[Bambinomontana 0]

I'm not putting them down, may even end up using one when my job moves uptown. I've just seen to many of my friends that were professional riders, get hurt and killed out there. The NYC taxis are insane, I got cut off bad one time, I had to press the front brakes so hard, that it made the whole bike flip over. Maybe this will help and have more cops giving those crazy cab drivers tickets for reckless driving. The worst was being behind a bus on a hot day like today, brutal....

[Krdshrk 3,878]

Yeah - there are certain routes that you'll have to use to keep from getting run over....

[Bob2222 317]

Bloomberg's legacy will be 32 ounce soft drinks, billion-dollar deficits, half of the city living in poverty and Citi Bike. Sad to say, the next mayor will be even worse.

 

What can possibly go wrong with this? The city isn't enforcing the helmet law. The bikes are lunky and the riders likely aren't very experienced.

 

Plus there are a bunch of things that nobody has thought of yet! This is New York, after all.

 

They've already had the first injury and first stolen bikes.

 

http://gothamist.com/2013/05/31/citi_bike_rider_hospitalized_after.php

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/sunday-review/to-encourage-biking-cities-forget-about-helmets.html?pagewanted=all

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/weiner_on_roll_in_mayoral_fight_mS58drkq2MwdK06tuys9bL

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/for_man_swipes_unlocked_citi_bike_Q8SlgFrzJTU7A2MpGTaP6O

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/well_that_was_fast_first_cycle_stolen_2NIpvm9yfPQmYIJJ8tScnL

 

Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner (even he's not dumb enough to ride without a helmet.)

 

 

 

[greatgunstatenj 32]

Seems like a good idea but riding a bike in the city is dangerous. You have to be very aware of what's going on. When I think of this program I imagine some tourist just cruising along staring up at the pretty lights and WHACK! Game over. Hopefully it works out better than that. 

[djg0770 481]

You can't walk in NYC without getting body checked, I don't understand how they think this is a good idea.

 

Between cabbies, buses, delivery trucks, tourists driving into the city, etc, it's IMO a recipe for disaster.

[Duppie 73]

Well the bike racks are there.  A lot of the places I see them in Midtown are no-parking areas anyway or commercial parking only.  I think they're made intentionally heavy and slow so people don't steal them.  Also - they're not really for tourist rentals.  They're more for commuters.

Not so sure about that.....The Citibike program is already advertized in Airline magazines from Air France to Virgin.

[Krdshrk 3,878]

How many of us here actually work in the city?

 

*Raises hand*

[greatgunstatenj 32]

How many of us here actually work in the city?

 

*Raises hand*

Every day, no need for a bike but have witnessed many near misses. Admittedly a ton of those near misses were caused by jerk off bike messengers almost mowing down someone in a cross walk as they blew a red light. However, have seen plenty of other mishaps as well. 

[liquidskin 3]

How many of us here actually work in the city?

 

*Raises hand*

WFC here.. won't find me on one of these bikes anytime soon.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[djg0770 481]

How many of us here actually work in the city?

 

*Raises hand*

 

Depends on what you call working in the city.

 

I'm auditing 1.5m sq ft at one building and 1.2m sq ft at another building, and I have a boiler replacement project on the upper east side.  I'm in the city at least one day a week, sometimes 2 and 3.

 

Our NYC office faces Zucotti park...

 

does this count in your opinion?

[Duppie 73]

I'm down town....