Citi Bike

Citi Bike is a popular bicycle sharing system in New York City. It serves the boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, as well as Jersey City and Hoboken, New Jersey. The system was named after its lead sponsor, Citigroup, and was first proposed in 2008 by the New York City Department of Transportation.

The service officially opened in May 2013 with 332 stations and 6,000 bikes. Over the years, it grew to become the largest bike sharing program in the United States, reaching 706 stations and 12,000 bikes by October 2017. Today, Citi Bike continues to expand, with plans to serve even more areas and increase the number of bikes to 40,000.

Citi Bike has had millions of rides since it began. In October 2017, it reached 50 million total rides, and by July 2020, that number grew to 100 million rides. As of 2023, there are 180,000 annual subscribers, and the system regularly sees over 100,000 rides each month. The record for the most rides in a single month was set in October 2024, with 5.13 million rides.

History

The New York City Department of Transportation studied ways to add more transportation options in the 2000s. They wanted to reduce traffic and pollution and help people stay healthy. The city planned to add more bike lanes and parking spots for bikes.

In 2011, New York City chose a company called Alta Bicycle Share to start a bike-sharing program called Citi Bike. The system began in May 2013 with 332 stations and 6,000 bikes in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn. It grew quickly, becoming the largest bike-sharing program in the United States at the time.

Later, the company operating Citi Bike changed a few times. In 2018, Lyft took over and added electric bikes, which became very popular. Citi Bike has continued to grow, adding stations to new areas like Queens, the Bronx, Jersey City, New Jersey, and Hoboken, New Jersey. Today, Citi Bike serves many parts of New York City and helps people get around without using cars.

Company

Citi Bike is a popular bike-sharing system in New York City. It is owned by NYC Bike Share LLC, a subsidiary of Alta Bicycle Share, Inc., and was sponsored by Citigroup, which spent millions to support the program. The system became the largest bike-sharing service in the United States when it started in 2013. By May 2023, it had over 180,000 members.

Citi Bike offers a faster and cheaper way to travel compared to taking a taxi. For example, trips in Midtown Manhattan are often quicker and cost less with a Citi Bike. In its early years, Citi Bike had a good safety record, with no deaths reported in the first three years of operation. However, a cyclist was struck by a bus in Chelsea in June 2017, marking the first fatality involving a Citi Bike rider.

Bikes

Citi Bike has about 33,000 bicycles as of 2023, growing to 35,000 by 2025. The fleet includes 20,000 utility bicycles, each weighing about 45 pounds. These bikes have a step-through frame, three-speed gears, and wide, puncture-resistant tires for stability. They are built in Saguenay, Quebec, and assembled in Detroit.

Alongside regular bikes, Citi Bike also has over 5,000 e-bikes as of 2023, increasing to 15,000 by 2025. These e-bikes come in two models: one with a 30-mile range and another silver model with a 60-mile range, introduced in 2022. E-bikes made up one-third of the fleet in 2024 and were used in two-thirds of all trips.

Payment

Annual membership for Citi Bike costs $219.99, or about $18.33 per month. There is a special reduced price for some people, like those who live in New York City Housing Authority housing or have certain benefits. Citibank card holders can save 10% when buying a yearly membership online. Annual members can ride for up to 45 minutes without extra cost, but they pay more if their ride is longer.

There are also day passes for $25, which let you ride for unlimited 30-minute trips, and single rides for $4.99, also limited to 30 minutes. If you go over the time limit, you pay extra for each extra minute. There is a special yearly pass from Lyft that costs $199 and lets you ride as much as you want, with lower extra charges for long rides. All payments are made with credit cards only.

Usage

Citi Bike has been very popular since it started. In its first year, most riders were men, but many women also used it. The number of trips grew each year: from 5.8 million in 2013 to nearly 30 million by 2022. Even with a small drop in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership went up again.

By May 2025, Citi Bike had about 142,553 rides each day. Each bike was used almost two times a day. There were many members and casual riders, with over 2,800 stations and more than 37,000 bikes available.

Issues

When Citi Bike started, some people were unhappy with the bright blue bikes and stations. They said the stations blocked fire hydrants and took up parking spaces. The stations in later expansions were farther apart, making them harder to reach. Some areas, like parts of Brooklyn and the Bronx, had fewer stations or broken bikes. This caused problems for people living in those neighborhoods.