How Many Citi Bikes Are Actually Available? (Graph)

New York's Citi Bike claimed in September 2017 that it has 12,000 bikes in its system.  But as pointed out last month in Streetsblog NYC, there are far fewer (7166 at the time), likely because many are in repair or storage.  Or set aside for out-of-town commuters.

I've started logging the number of bikes in the Citi Bike system that are available, using Oliver O'Brien's invaluable Bike Share Map, which uses Citi Bike's data.  I'm using the Total Bike Available: Max Today metric.

As of October 28, the number of Citi Bikes available is up to 8592, a sharp jump from 7825 two days earlier.  This chart will continue to be updated.

It's 8:30pm and Mid-Town Is a Citi Bike Wasteland, So Why Are Hundreds of Bikes Systematically Kept Out of Commission?

If you are a Citi Bike user with the misfortune of being in midtown Manhattan after 7pm, you are well familiar with the despair of trying to find an available bike to ride home after a long day at work.

Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 8:36pm

Tonight I had the experience of walking from station to station for 25 min, arriving just in time to see a fellow Citi Bike member riding off with last bike at the station.  A station sporting 2 bikes gave me more hope til I arrived to see a happy couple pedaling away with both precious vehicles.

Midtown doesn't have to be a Citi Bike desert every weekday night if the service didn't deliberately take hundreds of bikes out of commission every night for a questionable reason.

After finally finding a bike and going uptown, I passed by a stockpile of dozens of Citi Bikes outside Penn Station:

Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 8:55pm

Presumably, Citi Bike collected them at the evening commute from members dropping them off before heading out of the city.  Citi Bike COULD do the right thing and serve its members by doing a final rebalance in the evening and distribute these bikes around midtown to desperate bikers but it doesn't.  

So members are stuck with a shortage of bikes for 12+ hours from 6pm through the next morning, so Citi Bike can have a fleet of bikes ready for commuters arriving at Penn Station.

For some reason, Citi Bike is treating commuters riding in on the LIRR better than Manhattanites, who pay higher taxes but don't get the valet service at the morning and evening that the out-of-towners do.  

Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 9:48pm

So why doesn't Citi Bike do a final redistribution of bikes from its stockpiles at Penn Station, and presumably Grand Central and other major transit hubs?  I'm guessing it's money.  It would have to pay to do a final distribution of bikes after the evening commute, and then overnight round up enough bikes to bring back to these hubs in time for the morning commute.

The bean counters a Citi Bike have somehow decided that being able to serve commuters from out of town with a steady stream of bikes in the mornings and to have a valet collect said bikes at the end of the day, is more important than serving Manhattan-tax-paying members.

Citi Bike: why have you forsaken Manhattan members for out-of-towners?

Bike Angels: Will Incentivizing Its Membership to Rebalance Solve Hell's Kitchen's CitiBike Shortage?

After enduring another year of empty CitiBike stations in Hell's Kitchen (particularly during the morning commute), it's heartening to see Motivate try something new: gamifying their rebalancing operations with a program called Bike Angels. CitiBike is basically bribing users to move bikes out of full stations and park them in empty stations.

This is how CitiBike members earn points:

Full Station  → Empty Station  = +2 pts
Full Station  → Any Other Station  = +1 pts
Any Other Station  → Empty Station  = +1 pts

And here are the prizes, with your points tally resetting every 2 weeks:

10 Points = Raffle entry for chance to win $500 Gift Card
15 Points = 1 week membership extension + Raffle entry
20 Points = 2 week membership extension + Raffle entry
25 Points = 3 week membership extension + Raffle entry

On the Bike Angels site is a guide to empty and full stations in the AM and PM and the Hell's Kitchen stations are notably empty during both periods.

Maybe an enterprising Hell's Kitchen resident will realize he/she can earn 2 points every morning by moving a bike just a couple of blocks.

How Much will Bike Angels Cost CitiBike in Lost Membership Fees?

Is the Manhattan Citibike expansion worsening the Hell's Kitchen shortage?

Though the expanded Citibike station footprint in Manhattan is welcome, one has to wonder if it's hurting rebalancing efforts.

The Citibike shortage in Hell's Kitchen during the morning commute seems to be worse:

Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 7:51am:

Thursday, Sept. 17 at 8:30am:

The 52nd and 8th station used to be reliable for a handful of Citibikes during the morning commute but now there is regularly nothing there.  

I noticed that UWS stations were full last night so perhaps the bike inventory is getting stretched too thin.

Empty Citibike stations in upper Hell's Kitchen: August

Even under new leadership, Citibike continues to ignore Hell's Kitchen, leaving stations empty during the morning commute.  Meanwhile, in their wrongheadedness, they are rebalancing Broadway, keeping those stations heavily stocked.  Does anyone at Citibike know what it's like to bike south along Broadway?  And why does Citibike think it's appropriate to make users walk 5 minutes from 9th ave. to Broadway to get a bike? Here's a sampling from the past two weeks:

August 5 at 9:47am

August 6 at 9:52am

August 14 at 9:43am

Even on weekends: August 16 at 12:14pm

August 17 at 9:40am

August 19 at 9:28am

Monday, July 27 at 8:44am: 4 empty stations in Hell's Kitchen

I haven't posted in 1/2 a year but that doesn't mean the lack of bikes in Hell's Kitchen has been solved.  I have plenty of pictures and will post them in coming weeks.

This morning did motivate me to post again - 4 adjacent stations this morning were empty:

Monday, November 3 at 9:10am: No CitiBikes in Upper Hell's Kitchen

You would think on the coldest day in months, there might be more CitiBikes available, but alas, there were no bikes at the 52/8, 54/9 and 52/9 stations this morning at 9:10am.

CitiBike has officially started charging $149 for yearly membership; closes renewal loophole

Well, that didn't take long.

When CitiBike officially announced on Tuesday, Oct. 28 that it was under new management and would be expanding, it also broke the bad news that the yearly membership fee would rise from $95 to $149.  At the time, they said "you may still sign up for a new membership or renew an existing subscription at the current $95 rate."

About 24 hours later, CitiBike closed the window for $95 renewals; the yearly annual fee is  now officially $149 (plus tax).

On top of this, there seemed to be a loophole whereby users could renew early, and extend a membership to 2016 (and possibly further - I didn't try).  This loophole is now closed.  You can now only renew for 1 year at a time.

I guess one benefit of Alta's mismanagement was their lax membership renewal guidelines, and unfortunately, that party's over.

How to beat the impending CitiBike membership hike

Since it's now all but certain that CitiBike annual membership fees will increase (from $95/year to possibly $145), there is a way to dodge the price hike.

When CitiBike announces that Alta has been bought by REQX Ventures, and that the annual membership fee will increase, they can either make the price hike effective immediately or, more fairly, set a future date for the increase like Amazon did when it announced that Amazon Prime's fee would go up 5 weeks hence.

Just in case CitiBike makes a membership hike effective immediately, you are better off renewing now. Doing so isn't that difficult but it may not be obvious how to do so.

Here is how to renew your CitiBike membership now:

1. Log into Citibike by going to their website, http://www.citibikenyc.com

2. After you log in, it should take you to your Member Profile: https://www.citibikenyc.com/member/profile

3. I believe by default, your membership is set to Automatic Renewal, which CitiBike defines as "Your plan will automatically renew near its expiration date to the Annual Membership plan."  You don't want this, because unless your membership is up in the next few days, the higher fee will be in place well before your membership auto-renews.  

Beside "Renewal Type", click "Change Setting".

4. Click "Switch to Manual Renewal"

5. Once you are back on the main profile page, in the Membership Information section, click Renew.

6. Confirm payment details and you're good for another year at the current $95/year rate!  It might be possible to renew repeatedly for multiple years, but I didn't bother try try that.  If anyone does, please let me know if it works.

7. In case you don't want to accidentally miss a renewal in 12+ months time, consider changing your Membership Renewal Type back to Automatic.

Enjoy another $95 year of CitiBike!

And next time you talk to a CitiBike rebalancer, dispatcher, any CitiBike representative or Jonathan Schulhof, please ask them to stock more bikes in Hell's Kitchen, especially the W54th and 9th Ave. station.

What the CitiBike Deal Will Mean for Riders

A deal to prop up the CitiBike system (as well as bike share systems in Boston, Washington DC, Toronto, Melbourne and other cities) was supposedly signed yesterday but there has been no official announcement yet, nor has there ever been any acknowledgement of what was on the table.

Here is a compilation of the improvements CitiBike may be making now that REQX Ventures has purchased CitiBike's operator, Alta Bicycle Share:

Deal takes shape to bolster Citi Bike - Capital New York (July 2)

- install new software
- stabilize system's finances
- perhaps expand it

Citi Bike Poised for a Big Infusion of Cash (July 23)

- expand to upper Manhattan and Queens and further into Brooklyn
- double bikes from 6200 to 12,000
- improve software

De Blasio Deal Could Give Bike Sharing in New York a New Imprint (July 27)

- address customer service issues
- expected to begin next year and be completed by the end of 2017.
- extend into Queens, move deeper east into Brooklyn and farther north in Manhattan

There is no guarantee all of the above will happen but hopefully there will be some significant improvements, including better rebalancing so Hell's Kitchen CitiBike stations will no longer be devoid of bikes during rush hours.

These improvements will come at a cost - the price of an annual membership is reportedly going up from $95 - possibly to $140 or more.

Deal to Stabilize and Expand CitiBike Finally Closes

A deal for an huge investment in CitiBike, which will improve and expand the system, has finally closed. 

West 52nd/9th Ave CitiBike station fixed but Bike #02588 still stuck

The CitiBike station was fixed around 7pm Tuesday night:

The 1 bike remaining?  It's #02588, which has been stuck at this station for weeks.  Surely CitiBike should be able to know that a bike that's been at the same location for weeks is in need of attention?

Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 9:30am: No CitiBikes at West 54th and 9th Ave.

An all to common sight at West 54th St. and 9th Ave.:

No CitiBikes at West 54th St. and 9th AVe. Tuesday Oct. 14 at 9:30am

West 52nd/9th Ave CitiBike station down and #02588 is still stuck

UPDATE: The O'Brien map shows the station has been down for up to 10 hours:

The CitiBike station at West 52nd St. and 9th Ave. is down - when you insert a fob, the LEDs don't light up.  The CitiBike map shows 8 bikes but they are all locked into the docks.  Why isn't the station grayed out on the map and app so people don't waste time walking to it?

Station down as of 9:30am Oct. 14.  LEDs don't light up

And CitiBike #02588 is still stuck at the station:

Desperate CitiBike #02588 Stuck in Dock; Pens Letter to CitiBike

UPDATE Oct. 13: Bike #02588 is still there.

CitiBike #02588 has been stuck at the West 52nd and 9th station for weeks, disappointing hopeful members who approach the station thinking they've happened upon the remaining bike in the area. In that time, it seems as though bike #02588 has learned how to write and with a pen and paper its found nearby, composed a letter to CitiBike asking to be released.

CitiBike: will you help out #02588?

Letter on CitiBike at West 52nd and 9th on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014

Empty West 54th/9th CitiBike Station October 8, 9 and 10

More photos of the empty W54/9th station at the end of morning rush:

Oct. 8 at 9:55am

Oct. 9 at 9:50am

Oct. 10 at 10am

Empty West 54th/9th CitiBike Station in September

I haven't had time to post as frequently to this blog but I have still be taking photos of the deplorably empty West 54th St. / 9th Ave. CitiBike station.  After a one-time morning rush rebalancing in August, CitiBike has resumed ignoring this station.

The evidence in September:

Sept. 9 at 6pm

Sept. 8 at 10am

Sept. 12 at 9:55am - 2 broken bikes

Monday Miracle: the West 54th St. and 9th Ave. station was rebalanced this morning

This morning, something remarkable happened: CitiBike added bikes to the W54 and 9th Ave. station - by my count, at least a dozen bikes around 9am.

Here is the proof:

CitiBike Station at West 54 and 9th Ave: Image captured Aug. 18 at 12:20pm

And here's the station at 9:50am:

From the graph above, you'll see that all the bikes were gone within about 1.5h, which shows that when the station is stocked with bikes, they will get used (there were 3 bikes checked out within a 2-minute span).  I hope CitiBike takes notice and realizes that it makes more sense to help out the empty stations in the morning rather than fill up the Broadway and 49/51/53/55 stations in anticipation of the evening rush 6+ hours in the future.

CitiBike App shows misleading graphics

Has this happened to you?  The CitiBike app shows pin graphic with a little dark blue at the bottom, indicating that there are a few bikes at a station.  You walk there, only to discover that the graphic was wrong - the app knew that the station had 0 bikes (confirmed when you tap the pin) but was displaying the pin with a dark blue tip anyway.

The dark blue tip on the pin suggests that there are a few bikes at the CitiBike station, but tapping it reveals that the station is empty

The harsh reality: the station is empty

Is it so hard for the app not do display misleading graphics?

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10 Days and counting: 8 CitiBikes stuck at West 52nd St. & 8th Ave. station

Since at least July 20, the north end of the CitiBike station at West 52nd St. and 8th Ave. has been down and bikes parked there can't be released.  In the past 10 days, the number of bikes stuck at the station has increased to 8.

At one point, the past weekend, the number of broken/stuck bikes at this station had ballooned to 12 until 6 of the broken bikes were removed by Monday.

12 broken bikes July 27 at 3:30pm

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