New York's Citi Bike system will be expanded to meet ridership demand by the end of next year, according to an announcement from Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, and Lyft. This year’s expansion areas include Ditmas Park and Flatbush in Brooklyn; Jackson Heights, Corona, and Elmhurst in Queens; and Bathgate and Marble Hill in the Bronx.
“This expansion of the Citi Bike program is a significant step forward toward encouraging more and more people to get around our borough and city by bike,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “Citi Bike has proven to be very popular wherever it has been available, and I am sure it will be even more popular thanks to today’s announcement. I look forward to future expansions of the Citi Bike program and will continue to partner with the Department of Transportation to promote bicycling in Queens and throughout New York City.”
Citi Bike plans to double its electric bike fleet and pilot at least two electrified charging and docking stations. Citi Bike will also introduce new price caps to its e-bike pricing model, and has already added 2,800 classic bikes and replaced 2,200 existing bikes as a part of its Phase 3 expansion.
To enhance e-bike fleet growth, DOT and Lyft will pilot a grid-connected charging station later this year, with a goal of electrifying stations over the coming years. Electrified stations improve e-bike availability for riders by substantially increasing the number of bikes with sufficient battery charge. Currently, e-bike batteries are charged in a warehouse and manually swapped at the station. Once the charging station network is built, DOT and Lyft will explore how operational cost savings can be passed along to riders.
Starting in January 2024, all new annual Citi Bike memberships and renewals will come with 60 free e-bike minutes. Members will never have to pay an additional fee to ride a bike when only e-bikes are left in a station. On Citi Bike’s next-generation e-bike, members will be able to choose in the app whether they prefer to ride with full assist — requiring more battery usage — at $0.17 per minute or a low-assist ride free for the first 45 minutes.
Contractual price controls are being extended to per-minute prices for e-bikes, which were previously uncapped. Under the new cap, pricing this year cannot exceed $0.24 per minute for members, $0.36 for non-members, and $0.12 per minute for reduced-fare bike share members. Additionally, the existing cap on the Citi Bike annual membership price will be lowered from $230 to $210. An annual Citi Bike membership costs $205 this year, below the cap. Citi Bike pricing is not changing at this time.
