New York Citi Bike Program Successful
NEW YORK – “Citi Bike is the largest bike share program in the nation and now it’s also the fastest growing,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “It’s been a huge hit with New Yorkers and our visitors, and ridership is easily outstripping our most optimistic projections.”
Getting people out of their cars, out of taxis and getting around on bikes has been a goal of the City of New York. The efforts have been supported by the people.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and New York City Bike Share announced on November 8, 2013 that Citi Bike users have taken more than 5.1 million trips since the system started operation on May 27, with riders travelling an estimated 10 million miles over the first 166 days—far outstripping the pace of other major bike share cities.
Washington DC took almost three years of operation to reach 5 million rides. More than 432,000 people have purchased access passes for the 6,000-bike, 330-station system so far, including nearly 94,000 annual memberships.
Citi Bikers Ride into History in New York
“Five months and 5 million trips later, Citi Bikers have ridden into the history books,” said DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan. “The real measure of Citi Bike’s success isn’t just how fast it passed these milestones but how fast it has re-drawn the map for getting around the city.”
“Citi Bike has dramatically exceeded our expectations no matter how you look at it – rides taken, miles traveled or greenhouse gas emissions avoided,” said Citi Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat. “Citi has a 200-year history of enabling innovative projects in New York and great cities around the world. We are building on that tradition with Citi Bike. It has proven to be an effective and unique way of connecting with New Yorkers and we are proud to support it.”
The City also released an updated statistical fact sheet card for Citi Bike’s first 5 million miles:
Number of trips (as of 9 a.m. November 8): 5,172,616: more rides than the populations of Brooklyn and Queens combined; more than the populations of 28 states; one million more riders than annual visitors to the Empire State Building and equal to the annual visitors of the Natural History Museum; more than twice the annual ridership of DC’s Capital Bike Share, the nation’s second largest system, which took nearly three years to reach 5 million rides.
Number of trips in the peak travel day: 44,000: more than the average Yankee Stadium attendance this past season; average daily ridership of 35,000 is more than twice the daily attendance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Total annual, weekly and daily subscriptions purchased: 432,244, almost as large as the population of Atlanta, Georgia; nearly 94,000 annual members, roughly equivalent to the capacities of Yankee Stadium and Citi Field combined.
Estimated miles traveled to date: 10.08 million, the equivalent of 404 trips around the Earth; roughly a third of the distance to Mars; nearly four times the length of all paved roads in the United States; and nearly eight times the total miles run by all 50,000 New York City marathoners last weekend.
Estimated number of calories burned since launch*: 403 million, the equivalent of 732,000 Big Macs, nearly 419,000 entire pints of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream, and more than 107,000 Pizza Hut meat lover’s pizzas. *assumes an average of 40 calories per mile biked
Average number of daily rides on each of the 6,000 Citi Bikes: 6
Average number rides on each of the 6,000 Citi Bikes since launch: 862
Citi Bike launched on May 27 to annual members and June 2 to users purchasing daily and weekly passes in the initial service area, including Manhattan below 59th Street and in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and DUMBO. Citi Bike is the nation’s largest bike share system and is funded by a $41 million sponsorship from Citi, and without taxpayer funds being used to underwrite the system. The City plans to announce the timeline for expansion soon. Annual members who purchase a $95 membership receive an electronic key to undock a bike from any station, allowing unlimited trips up to 45 minutes without incurring any additional costs. Discounted memberships are available for NYCHA residents and through Community Development Credit Unions. Twenty-four-hour and seven-day access passes provide unlimited 30-minute trips. For more information or to purchase a membership, visit citibikenyc.com.
Related articles
