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Transportation

New Redesigned Citi Bikes To Hit NYC Streets This Year 100

Posted by samzenpus from the new-wheels dept.
New submitter Robertoswins writes: 1,000 new redesigned Citi Bikes will be hitting the streets of New York City this summer with a slimmer redesign. Designed by Olympic racing bike designer Ben Serrota, the new bikes will start rolling out in a week. Another 1,400 units of the new bikes will be added during the company's expansion into Brooklyn and Queens later this year.
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New Redesigned Citi Bikes To Hit NYC Streets This Year More

New Redesigned Citi Bikes To Hit NYC Streets This Year

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  • Right?

    I just awakened from a coma and it's the fourth month's fool?

  • The real problem with the bikes in New York and anywhere else that far North is that for 4 - 6 months out of the year it is simply too cold or too wet for anyone but insane bike messengers to ride around. All the money and effort that has gone into redesigning the traffic system for this seasonal commuting option is simply insane. The program would make much more sense in cities with milder weather.

    • What redesign has gone into the traffic system?

      We have an equivalent here in Brisbane and all you have are these stands with the bikes attached to them and you ride them from one place to the other. So the design work involved picking where you wanted the stands. I'm sure there is also some low level modelling around where bikes move from and to so you know where to send the pickup truck...

      • What redesign has gone into the traffic system?

        Too keep the bike riders safe from the crazy NY cab drivers the avenues were modified to place the parking lanes in between the traffic and the bike lanes. In some places the number of traffic lanes were reduced to expand the bike lanes. It is great in the summer but as I mentioned 4 - 6 months of the year these are practically private roads for bike messengers.

        • Wow. I assume there must be some kind of bollard between the parking lane and the cycle path otherwise people would just park over the bike lane? That would be a significant engineering exercise then.

          That said I doubt it was just done for these citicycle things. If you can make your city more friendly to bicycles then you would hope to be able to reduce traffic congestion and load. Brisbane doesn't get too cold but it does get stinking hot in summer. So most major city buildings now have been retrofitt

        • As it should be. Roads DOMINATE the landscape, pedestrians are given tiny alleys to move through. Its time we start re-thinking roads to include a LOT more alternative access.

      • Re:Ride one in January (Score:4, Informative)

        by beakerMeep ( 716990 ) on Monday June 08, 2015 @07:35PM (#49871903)

        Over the last 10-15 years NYC has significantly redesigned a lot of streets to fit bike lanes. They lowered the speed limit from 30 to 25 (past year or two), and added a lot more pedestrian stuff too I think. They also redesigned some traffic flow regarding right and left turns. (I am not sure all that was about bikes though).

        Here's an article from 2010:
        http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.... [nytimes.com]

        Most Citi bikes go ununsed as far as I can tell. Bikes are good, but I am not sure this was a good use of resources and space. I personally would've rather seen cleaner, faster, quieter and more reliable subways than more advert-bikes. But it's not so sexy for citibank to donate a tiny fraction of the MTA's budget for some billboards/posters.

        That said, citibikes are far from the worst thing to waste money and time and space on. I just dont think it's clear if they are really a net positive.

        • I think though you are talking an order of magnitude difference in cost, or more. I would expect that citibikes are relatively cheap in the grand scheme of infrastructure and any modifications to roads will spread across to private cycles as well.

          Looking at your link the change to the road ways is significant though. Certainly much greater than the equivalent changes here in Aus. If you are going to make that level of change then you want want to have a support network in place for them as well.

          This is h

          • I think though you are talking an order of magnitude difference in cost, or more. I would expect that citibikes are relatively cheap in the grand scheme of infrastructure and any modifications to roads will spread across to private cycles as well.

            Oh, definitely. Sorry, didn't mean to imply otherwise. The MTA budget is in the tens of billions, while the bikes are in the tens of millions. But the MTA moves 8 million+ per day while citibikes are ridden ~35,000 times per day.

            I think Citi foots most of the upfront cost for the bikes but they are far from free to use: https://www.citibikenyc.com/pr... [citibikenyc.com]

            Compare that to a $3 subway ride.

            I am all for people riding their bikes, but a citibank advertisement is no substitute for a proper, functioning mass tra

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by hvdh ( 1447205 )

              Well, that's quite expensive. Hamburg (Germany) has a similar system, but is cheaper. With one registration (5€ / 5.60USD, converted to credits) you can take up to two bikes (four after a phone call).
              The first 30 minutes of each bike rental are free, afterwards it is 4.80€ / 5USD per hour (billed per minute) or 12€ / 13.50USD per day (whatever is cheaper).
              There is no other cost like membership fees. Owners of public transport commutation tickets get 25% rebate.
              Rental stations are at near all

            • I never considered it expensive - I pay for an annual pass (although I just now noticed it got bumped up $50). So even at $150, given that I ride an average of 2 trips per day (year round), that's less than $0.20 per ride, compared to the $3 subway ride I no longer take. On top of that, I'm pretty sure citibike isn't city-funded.

        • actual stats: 35k trips, 80k miles a day (Score:4, Informative)

          by SuperBanana ( 662181 ) on Monday June 08, 2015 @10:07PM (#49872603)

          Most Citi bikes go ununsed as far as I can tell.

          You tell wrong. There are 6,000 bikes in the system and there's roughly 35,000 daily users. [citibikenyc.com]

          I personally would've rather seen cleaner, faster, quieter and more reliable subways than more advert-bikes. But it's not so sexy for citibank to donate a tiny fraction of the MTA's budget for some billboards/posters.

          Thank goodness we have urban transit planners, people with degrees in this stuff. They are heavily, heavily pushing bicycle transit and bike shares. Not because it's 'sexy', but because it works.

          You can plop down a bike share station in a matter of days or weeks (the biggest hassle are the community meetings) which affords enormous flexibility; it takes months to redo a bus route, and decades to plan a subway line. Bike share bikes convert a fair number of people over to bike ownership, too - and the presence or more bike riders on the city's streets makes the streets safer for everyone.

          • To be clear, I think that's 35,000 daily usages, not users. And most are under 30 mins (I think). But I did mean to make sure it was clear I was only speaking anecdotally, "as far as I can tell" -- I certainly may have a skewed perspective from the stations I see.

            Thank goodness we have urban transit planners, people with degrees in this stuff. They are heavily, heavily pushing bicycle transit and bike shares. Not because it's 'sexy', but because it works.

            I couldn't agree more. I am in awe of what they accomplish, to be honest. But at the same time, I can see they are struggling. From what I have read the MTA is $15-32B in the hole. So even though these bikes are a drop in the bucket, it is ea

        • Most Citi bikes go ununsed as far as I can tell.

          I wonder if you're really paying attention. They seem to get used a lot as far as I can tell. I see people riding them all the time.

          I personally would've rather seen cleaner, faster, quieter and more reliable subways than more advert-bikes.

          It's not clear to me that it's an either/or sort of situation. The bikes probably cost a tiny fraction of what it would cost to overhaul the subway.

        • I love the pic in your linked article. The illegally parked van really highlights how much the vehicles care about the bike lane.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by unimacs ( 597299 )
      Lots of people ride year round in similar or even colder climates than New York's. People don't stop walking when it gets cold or wet, do they? You just have to dress appropriately.

      FWIW, I live in Minneapolis and also ride year round. I'm not a crazy messenger either, just a run of the mill IT guy.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rossdee ( 243626 )

        "People don't stop walking when it gets cold or wet, do they?"

        I walk to work 99% of the time, and here it gets colder in the winter than NYC.

        But biking would be dangerous on ice and snow covered streets.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by unimacs ( 597299 )
          I live in a much colder and snowier climate than NYC but I ride year round. I have studded tires to deal with the ice but many people here don't bother (though I recommend them).

          Even if you don't have studded tires, the streets are plowed and clear on most days. The bike paths are plowed too. There are definitely days where it's more treacherous and you'd want to either stay home or find another way to get around, but again, that's not necessary most of the time.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dryeo ( 100693 )

            It probably depends on the type of snow you get. I grew up in Vancouver and as kids biked a lot but no way could you bike in the wet sticky snow that often falls (or at least used to fall) in Vancouver. Most people can't even drive in it, especially the ones from back east who would brag about how good they could drive in the snow.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by unimacs ( 597299 )
              Sure, some types of snow is harder to ride in than others, but how many days do you really get enough snow that it's an issue in Vancouver? A half dozen a year? That leaves a lot of winter days that are totally fine for riding.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by dryeo ( 100693 )

                Lately it has been close to zero days of snow. When I was a kid it was often weeks. Of course we get a lot of rain which I always hated for biking due to wearing glasses and there was one time I thought I lost an eye due to a hail stone.

            • As an East Coaster, I don't think anyone on this coast can actually drive in the snow. My pickup with offroad tires does ok, but it is rather disturbing when the large trucks pass me on packed snow. Many people over here think they can drive in snow, but lose control on the first turn/stop.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      The real problem with the bikes in New York and anywhere else that far North is that for 4 - 6 months out of the year it is simply too cold or too wet for anyone but insane bike messengers to ride around. All the money and effort that has gone into redesigning the traffic system for this seasonal commuting option is simply insane. The program would make much more sense in cities with milder weather.

      I live in Perth, Western Australia and we have very mild winters (low daytime temperatures are in the mid teens). My commutes were faster in Winter when all the cyclists were in their nice, warm cars instead of on their bikes. They dont even want to ride when it's just a little bit cold so massive redesigns dont work here either.

      Oh, and it's winter here right now. My drive to work is consistently 5-10 minutes faster.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by emj ( 15659 )

        I live in Perth, Western Australia and we have very mild winters (low daytime temperatures are in the mid teens). My commutes were faster in Winter when all the cyclists were in their nice, warm cars instead of on their bikes. They dont even want to ride when it's just a little bit cold so massive redesigns dont work here either.

        Oh, and it's winter here right now. My drive to work is consistently 5-10 minutes faster.

        I'm sorry but your views has nothing to do with facts, we have about 50 000 people going by bike on a bridge in Stockholm if all those people went by car you wouldn't be able to get across at all. This image says something about the space needed for cars vs bicycles: http://sustainablecitiescollec... [sustainabl...ective.com] But it's even worse in intersections, even small intersections can easily handle 10x to 20x the amount of persons by bike than in cars.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mjwx ( 966435 )

          I'm sorry but your views has nothing to do with facts

          I'm sorry, but that has nothing to do with facts. And your link is from a clearly biased site. Also Stockholm is a very bad example as they're openly hostile to motorists, forcing traffic to go slower than it should be. Now about that bridge, a car is approximately 3-4 times longer than a bike but travels at an average speed that allows them to cover a distance in 1/3 to 1/4 of the time. In a hour, you'd get far more cars through than due to a higher

    • Seriously? "that far north"?
      New York is the same latitude as Madrid, Naples or Thessaloniki.

    • I ride the bikes pretty much year round. The cold weather isn't really that big of a deal if you have gloves, and some kind of face mask. If you don't, then you'll freeze to death.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by SirSlud ( 67381 )

      They have a similar bikeshare system in Montreal and it's wildly popular and people use them even in the winter - it's only if it's too snowy that they don't get used. People who think it's impossible to bike in winter are just a subset of the people who don't use them in the summer. And I certainly don't see people saying we shouldn't spend money on motorcycle licensing, laws, traffic considerations, parking spots, regulations, etc just because they can't be used all winter.

    • I use Citi Bike as the first/last part of my commute, between the train station and work, all year round. It's about .75 miles, and since it's not convenient (or economical) to take mass transit that short bit, it's a question of either walking in the cold or biking so I'm in it for a shorter time and generating more body heat.

      I'll admit I don't bike when there's an inch or more snow on the ground or it's raining harder than a light drizzle, though.

  • Serotta, actually (Score:5, Informative)

    by smellsofbikes ( 890263 ) on Monday June 08, 2015 @07:06PM (#49871727) Journal

    Ben Serotta [wikipedia.org] is the spelling, for what it's worth.
    He built great frames, and a lot of people were sorry to see the company vanish after a merger. I'm glad he's found a new gig in the bike world, coz he's a nice guy.

  • Nice, we've had this for a few years now. (Score:4, Informative)

    by Predathar ( 658076 ) on Monday June 08, 2015 @07:13PM (#49871751)
    Montreal has had this for a few years (BIXI), hasn't been profitable yet but many people use it and enjoy it for the couple of months when it's available (usually early May to November if I remember correctly). https://montreal.bixi.com/ [bixi.com]
  • This is like calling a jeweler to design your tank.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by TWX ( 665546 )
      Really depends on what aspects of the bike he's working on.

      The article mentions rider comfort. Granted, racers expect discomfort in their racing, but the bicycle designer still should make an effort to take what was excruciating and make it merely agonizing if possible. If the bicycle designer has worked out better ergonomics for the angles between the seat, pedals, and handlebars, and worked out how to make them more adjustable by the layperson to make the bike fit any given rider fairly well then it
      • Frame geometry is a well explored and long-term empirically proven science. This is ridiculous and pointless branding.

        • So why don't you go ride a bike designed by some generic computer then?

          Saying it's a well explored proven science is an utter load of garbage. Each bike offers different comfort levels, different performance characteristics and benefits in different scenarios. At some point you need a human involved in bike design, preferably someone who's done it before to actually sense check the resulting frame that your magical algorithm has spit out. One size does not fit all.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by radl33t ( 900691 )
            But the Citibike is one size fits all.

            • Exactly the kind of solution that can't be shat out by a computer and is best left to designers of high performance custom frames.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by radl33t ( 900691 )
                This is not a high performance custom frame. It is a steel tubed tank in the shape of a chair that has little in common with any famously designed road bike. There is no design expertise that will allow a single seat post adjustment to accommodate widely varying human anatomies. There is however probably a rigorously developed computer algorithm that can churn out a design that is nominally acceptable for a large range of body types. Furthermore, the new citibike looks to have an identical frame as the prev

                • No but funny enough aerodynamics and weight are the computer solvable problems, while every other component such as ride comfort accommodating a variety of different body types is precisely the job which should be left to someone who ... has designed bikes for a variety of different body types.

                  Though I did actually have a similar though to you. I can't see what's revolutionary about this. It looks like minor tweaks at best, but not having ridden one I can't really comment. They look different from the equiv

  • There are some really cool areas to bike in NYC, but they are not well interconnected. The High Line is beautiful, but is only 1.5 miles long. A nice walk, but not really worth breaking out a bike. Brooklyn Bridge, same deal. Central Park is bike-able, mostly, as is a lot of the shore front, but it is all scattered in short stretches which are more suited to walking. If you have the courage to mix it up on street level, rock on, there are a lot of painted bike lanes, but you run a heavy risk of sudden crush

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Schezar ( 249629 )

      What? Have you ever even been to New York?

      The High Line isn't for biking. The bike paths are open and don't get caught in traffic even during heavy commute times. The shore paths are mostly complete, and on the west side it goes from top to bottom with fully bike-friendly wide paved paths.

      There are massive bike path networks along the parkways in the Bronx. There are long divided bike paths going as far out as the Rockaways and Flushing.

      I bike from Queens to downtown Manhattan every day for my commute.

  • Citi Bike in New York, Divvy in Chicago, Bixi in Montreal, etc...
    Civic bike share systems are becoming a big deal in a lot of cities these days, and it would really be helpful if Google Maps, Apple Maps, MS/Bing Maps, Nokia Maps, etc... would start integrating with them as a first class utility like other public transit options (available in all apps, considered in routing, etc...) rather than relegating each city's system to it's own app.

    • Check out Transit app (http://transitapp.com), which does do this. - I am not affiliated in an way.

      • Lots of apps do it, that's not what I'm asking for. I want it integrated so that it's just automatically there in every app that uses a map. So, for instance, I can look up a restaurant in Yelp, and see where I should drop off a bike nearby without switching apps and finding the place again.

        • Yup, that would be cool. They really need a plugin architecture, similar to the custom keyboards or maybe even an ability to specify layers via a URL, similar to calendars?

  • Why are battery assisted bikes so expensive? I looked at one for 2000$. Even the conversion kits are 300$ without the battery. Why?

    • Do a bit of research and you should get the price down.

      I have a friend who is a type I diabetic with a number of complications (occasional dizzy spells) which rules out being able to drive a car or ride a regular bike.

      I was able to source a kit adult tricycle for about AUD$300 and a bike conversion kit from http://dillengerelectricbikes.... [dillengere...kes.com.au] for AUD$700 (replace the front hub). There are some shipping costs which I haven't included, assembly took about a day and a half (one day for the trike, 4 hours for the

    • I think it is just because it is such a niche market. I ride a bike regularly, and did so in Auckland which is quite hilly. When I started out I thought an electric bike would be really great. Then I just got fitter and it ceased to be a problem. I think this is the experience of many people, even those who are a bit older. In a flat city I can easily get around at a speed that is scary enough so I wouldn't bother with the weight and hassle of electric.

      I suspect there is still a good market for them though

  • Are they self-driving?

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