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King-of-New-York OP t1_j27y4bh wrote

“Citi Bike has informed its riders that prices will go up next year, citing the impact of inflation on the bike-share system’s bottom line.

The cost of an annual membership will rise next month by just shy of 11%, from $185 to $205, while the base fee for a single trip will bump 12.5% from $3.99 to $4.49. Day passes will see the biggest jump, a 26% upswing from $15 to $19.

Citi Bike’s “equity” membership for low-income New Yorkers will stay at $5 per month, but per-minute charges for e-bikes will rise for those members from 5 to 6 cents per minute. E-bike fees for members will go up from 15 to 17 cents per minute, and for non-members, the charge will increase from 23 to 26 cents.”

——— A big increase for the new year.

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FyuuR t1_j28iuqg wrote

If citibike made all (or even most) bikes e-bikes, with an hour time limit for all rides, I would get a membership in a heartbeat.

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morelikeaaronfudge t1_j28rqan wrote

Unless if they're an e bike it's usually not rideable lol fuck citi bike

−8

sheerfire96 t1_j28uxxm wrote

$205 is still less than 2 months worth of monthly metro cards. If this is your form of commuting to work you still save a crap load of money even if you only use it half the year when it’s warm enough.

Citibike in general isn’t really worth it for one off trips unless you just have a desire to ride a bike

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thisismynewacct t1_j28x2lg wrote

Citibike is only really cost effective for annual membership riders who live here and tourists who want a cheap 45 minute bike ride.

Even at the new price, it’s ridiculously quick to get your moneys worth, especially if you use the bikes for out and back trips.

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jjd13001 t1_j28y5dp wrote

Still worth it tho, now they just need to swap out all the old shitty bikes for new ones

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vowelqueue t1_j2902o7 wrote

Replying to FyuuR (#1,178,195)

You'd be cool with that even with the price to use e-bikes rising to $0.17 / min and them getting rid of the cap for rides in the outer boroughs?

The e-bikes are definitely fun, but their pricing model treats them as a luxury that riders might opt for sparingly when they need to climb a bridge or when they want to take a joyride on a nice hot summer day. A 45-minute e-bike ride will now cost $7.65 for a member who is already paying ~$17/month (annually), or ~12.15 for a non-member, which is really cost-prohibitive as a regular form of transportation.

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FyuuR t1_j291fwn wrote

Replying to vowelqueue (#1,182,071)

I meant if all the bikes were e-bikes, with the same pricing structure as the non e-bikes we currently have. No paying per minute at all, unless you go over the 60 minute time limit. Pipe dream, but yea.

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plerberderr t1_j291hbv wrote

I live in a pretty big city in China and you can ride the bike shares here for 2RMB per trip (like $0.35). No time limit. Like standard of living is obviously cheaper here than in NYC in general but it’s just wild to me. I wonder how much of it is upkeep and to make up for theft?

And there’s always so many bikes. I remember a lot of empty racks (or full ones when you needed to park) when I lived in the city.

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nationalmoz t1_j292q4y wrote

I'm out.

E-bike costs are already insanely priced, and the regular bikes are often janky and fucked up.

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Jimmy_kong253 t1_j292us3 wrote

Well, just like everything else related to fighting climate change, it's expensive and slowly out of reach of most low income individuals

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ryanhoulihan t1_j2939jv wrote

Somehow I doubt this means I’ll ever have one anywhere near my home after 8 AM

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pixel_of_moral_decay t1_j293kop wrote

Replying to sheerfire96 (#1,180,868)

Also it’s been at the same price for years.

That still is at or a little below inflation for the whole time.

Unless you’re advocating for lowering the wages for already underpaid by Motivate/Lyft employees … who is known for being an employee friendly company.

The price didn’t really go up. It just adjusted for inflation.

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morelikeaaronfudge t1_j2964pi wrote

Replying to ThePinga (#1,182,151)

Nananana nobody is going to tell me the garbage that doesn't go up a hill and has no gears and moves just slightly faster than a stationary bike is rideable. A regular normal person bike can get me to work or an e bike can. Not the garbage trash that is the normal citi bike. Maybe if you're going a couple blocks on flat ground and you're not in a rush but otherwise fuck those bikes and anybody downvoting me for this opinion.

−10

bsanchey t1_j29779t wrote

Cito bike is only worth it if you live in certain parts of the city and those are mostly the affluent parts that live close enough to commute to work. Not shedding a tear for anyone who can bike to work when majority of us plebs and poors rely on transit.

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AsaKurai t1_j29h38i wrote

Replying to iv2892 (#1,186,400)

Depends if you ride frequently and have a safe place to store a bike then buying your own bike makes sense. If you don’t want that hassle of taking care of a bike and like the e-bike option then it’s worth it.

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bitter_vet t1_j29h64e wrote

Citibike is free with Citibank gold, if you have an account there....

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knockatize t1_j29izga wrote

“Pay us because go screw yourselves, little people” should be the city’s motto.

0

Bangkok_Dangeresque t1_j29mm1h wrote

Replying to pixel_of_moral_decay (#1,183,029)

>Unless you’re advocating for lowering the wages for already underpaid by Motivate/Lyft employees … who is known for being an employee friendly company.

There's other ways that they could raise revenue besides hiking the annual membership for commuters.

They could do additional advertising/corporate sponsorships. Sell more bulk passes to businesses. Increase rates for single rides/day passes targeting tourists. Seek additional funding from the state/grants. They could change the pricing model on the e-bikes from an additional fee per minute to a premium tier for those who opt-in.

I'm sure they considered all this. But the issue is that they, as a private entity, is optimizing for profit, while the city would want them to optimize for offloading trips from other transit/individual cars. Considering all the public space we've given to them, it's surprising the city isn't flexing its muscles a bit more.

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pixel_of_moral_decay t1_j29n6j3 wrote

Replying to Bangkok_Dangeresque (#1,187,718)

This isn’t raising revenue. This is maintaining revenue during inflation.

Just like a cost of living raise isn’t extra money. It’s maintaining the status quo.

The city could just look to increase income tax slightly as an alternative. But that will never go over well, despite being a very equitable solution. Remember it only spans 1% between the top and bottom brackets. Up to 1 fucking percent extra is all the richest in the city pay.

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story_island t1_j29q1mf wrote

I've had a Citi Bike membership for the last couple of years, but recently cancelled renewal and decided to purchase a personal ebike for a few reasons:

  1. Too many busted bikes! Seems more often than not when I get on a citi bike something is wrong with it. Either the brakes work poorly, it has some weird clicking sound coming from the bottom bracket, the seat won't stay in place, or the front rack is rattling around. These kind of issues seem to be the norm.
  2. E-bike availability sucks, and they are too expensive, even for members.
  3. Finding an open dock at your destination can be waaay too much of a hassle because everyone seems to take pretty similar trips. For example, everyone rides to Red Hook on the weekends and just leaves the bike there (I assume in part because Red Hook is at a lower elevation), so you can't really count on being able to find a dock within walking distance of the water.

Perhaps if they were increasing the price in order to improve some of these problems, but it seems they are just doing it to keep up with increased costs.

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story_island t1_j29qtgy wrote

Is there any data on the equity members? I wonder what percentage of members fall under the equity program, and if it is getting any outside funding (i.e. city/state funding, or private grants).

While I think it is important to make Citi Bike affordable for everyone, if the equity program isn't being properly funded it could really drag down their ability maintain a decent quality of service.

1

Bangkok_Dangeresque t1_j29rakr wrote

Replying to pixel_of_moral_decay (#1,187,856)

>This isn’t raising revenue. This is maintaining revenue during inflation.

That's semantics. I wasn't suggesting that they were raising prices just for the sake of improving profitability. Just that their costs are going up and so they need to increase revenues or else operate the system at a reduced profit or even a loss.

That said, Citibike's parent company Lyft has been on a tear of price increases and operational cost-cutting across all of its divisions following big declines in their stock price. Municipal programs like bike and scooter rentals have seen layoffs and price hikes in many cities.

​

>The city could just look to increase income tax slightly as an alternative

City taxes don't pay for Citibike. It's completely privately-funded (with the exception of community grants for NYCHCA residents, and city employee subsidized memberships).

0

jordanmcarson t1_j29xnoc wrote

They just raised their prices last year and now they’re doing it again? WTF?!

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Bangkok_Dangeresque t1_j2a15td wrote

Replying to pixel_of_moral_decay (#1,190,102)

Sure, the city could raise income taxes to fund whatever it wants. Though it already has some of the highest individual state and local income taxes in the entire country.

But for Citibike in particular this is a terrible idea. The city shouldn't be subsidizing private companies that are perfectly capable of funding themselves, especially considering the public benefits they already get

In addition, Citibike had about 100,000 daily riders at its pre-pandemic peak. Meanwhile, the city has about 4 million households subject to city tax, ~25% of which have household incomes at or above the $150k threshold you're suggesting, so about 1 million households would be subsidizing the daily transit of 100,000. That's inefficient, and that money would be far better spent on other transit projects with more reach.

Lastly, hundreds of thousands of households who might be subject to that tax live in the large sections of Queens, Brooklyn, and all of Staten Island that are not served by Citibike at all. This is not equitable.

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MLao_ t1_j2a1sqm wrote

Yeah I'll stick with my personal ebike, thanks.

Citibikes are almost always fucked up in some way whenever I've tried one.

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Phaedrusnyc t1_j2a9mc5 wrote

Replying to morelikeaaronfudge (#1,180,093)

I have no idea why you're being down-voted when it's well-known by a actual bike riders that Citibikes are shitty and poorly maintained. Hell, other people are saying exactly the same thing down thread and they aren't getting this.

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CamJam36 t1_j2afktc wrote

I’ve recently got into JOCO bikes while in Manhattan. Their bikes are faster, lock through app synch with your phone. Lowest price point is $13.04 for a 6 hr unlimited pass. I am very impressed by them so far.

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morelikeaaronfudge t1_j2ah5qj wrote

Replying to Phaedrusnyc (#1,193,323)

They're always broken. The e bikes are often broken too but the fact that they're e bikes allows you to projectile through the brokenness of the bikes. I don't really give a fuck about being downvoted. Lots of dumbasses in this shitty.

−1

iv2892 t1_j2ah7oo wrote

Replying to idontstopandchat (#1,194,056)

Yeah , although I’ve seen some idiots riding the subway with the citi bike. Like dude , the whole purpose of citi bike is docking the bike wherever you want so you can avoid these inconveniences

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Darbies t1_j2apqch wrote

I was out when Lyft took over and sure enough, it's getting worse. Not only are the eBikes insanely expensive, you're basically gambling if you're even going to get a good one or not when you undock. Then, is it even maintained? More than half the time, the eBike might be full battery, but have terrible performance. Then on manual bikes, some shifters/gears are straight garbage.

All that's happened in the last three years is less mechanics and technicians servicing the bikes, more dead eBikes and battery switchers, and price increases. I know $200 a year is more attractive than servicing and owning a bike, but I really have a hard time justifying this for my own rec use.

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CamJam36 t1_j2aqod9 wrote

Replying to Darbies (#1,197,241)

I don’t even know. I literally just downloaded the app, followed the prompts and checked out a bike. 🤷🏾‍♂️ I do deliveries but don’t recall being asked if I did.

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YourNameHeer t1_j2asfv5 wrote

Does anyone fear for their life biking in Manhattan outside of like the West End/East End dedicated lanes and Central Park? Construction, crazed delivery drivers E-biking the wrong way, Uhauls parked in the bike lanes, and you're literally exposed next to crazed drivers on like 9th/10th Ave or Midtown

Shit makes me anxious af to get rammed

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tommyrulz1 t1_j2axd3y wrote

Citi Bike is owned by Lyft. A company whose shares are down 75% this year. This is just a grab for revenues wherever they can find them to get stock up. 🤬

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Some-Ruin4706 t1_j2b14dn wrote

Replying to YourNameHeer (#1,197,778)

Ive been biking in NYC for years. You have to be aggressive and confident. Establish your lane and dont deviate for anyone. Learn to look over your shoulder (like checking your blind spot in a car) and keep your head on a swivel. People, cars, bikes, etc will do a lot of dumb shit but in over 2 decades of biking ive only been close to an incident maybe 2 or 3 times?

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ITEACHSPECIALED t1_j2b1kw3 wrote

I am cancelling mine after it expires.

I rarely find any good bikes in my neighborhood and when I think I have found one, it is either broken or requires charging.

3

YourNameHeer t1_j2b2li8 wrote

Replying to Some-Ruin4706 (#1,199,997)

Yeah I'm a pretty confident skier + typical NYC jaywalker so a lot of these principles you mentioned apply to how I bike as well. Still, I get uneasy feelings when I'm riding on the exposed bike lane next to the multi lane road (i.e 10th Ave near Lincoln Tunnel) where aggressive NYC drivers are swerving lanes and driving like assholes all around.

On edge one of them's gunna clip me from behind with their side-view mirrors, esp on the streets where it's narrow. There's also left turns that cross through a green light'd bike lane, and I'm always fearful one car isn't gunna look behind and see me coming when he initiates his left turn

3

Some-Ruin4706 t1_j2b314y wrote

Replying to YourNameHeer (#1,200,409)

Try different routes? Maybe go an avenue or more over till you feel safer? I still get nervous everytime i pass a one way street crossing my lane. People just take the turn without looking.

Best advice I got was "ride like you're invisible to everyone".

Stay safe out there! Happy riding!

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Frankiesales_ t1_j2bcwbs wrote

Cool hopefully we see less bikes on the already too crowded NYC streets but doubt it will have any noticeable effect

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dilellooo t1_j2bt109 wrote

FYI, if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, you can get 2 years of Lyft Pink for free. Which gives you a Citi Bike membership, for free.

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thebruns t1_j2ccjtu wrote

Isn't it already one of the most expensive on the planet?

2

phil917 t1_j2ctv8v wrote

I just purchased an e-scooter because I'm absolutely sick of the declining Citibike quality as of late. It has definitely gotten worse in the past few years.

There are so many broken/busted bikes and issues with docking/undocking. 9 times out of 10 I have to try multiple bikes at a dock before it lets me take one out. Plus, the vast majority of bikes lately take so much effort to pedal and get to an even moderate level of speed, it's just absurd.

Hearing about this price increase is just further icing on the cake. I'm canceling my membership as soon as my e-scooter arrives.

1

dilellooo t1_j2d6r0o wrote

Replying to movingtobay2019 (#1,207,307)

I agree. I really just meant to spread the information as an FYI since I had canceled my Citibike membership early this year, then found out about the Lyft Pink benefit a few months later, so it was nice to get it back for free.

2

brownredgreen t1_j2dunug wrote

Yeah, i WAS thinking "maybe i should get new citibike acct" as i terminated it when i lost my job months ago. Working again now, but, fuck this noise.

They were pricey before, but now? This is dumb.

$7 for a 40 min ebike ride ontop of annual membership? No fuckin way

3

sleepsucks t1_j2dvi1o wrote

Replying to bklynzboy (#1,203,906)

I have my own bike but still use couldn't because often 1) I need to go one way (when i don't want to arrive sweaty, I'll just take the bike home), 2) I can't lock my bike- increasingly bikes can't be locked in whole chunks of Manhattan/Brooklyn without getting stolen 3) when I'm in a rush- getting my bike out of my bike storage takes 12 min due to all the doors i need to go through and how many bikes there are. 12 min is sometimes my entire commute on a bike.

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vowelqueue t1_j2dyitn wrote

Replying to pixel_of_moral_decay (#1,183,029)

Here is a brief (incomplete) history of Citi Bike annual membership prices I pulled from my records.

Year Price
2013 95
2015 149
2016 155
2017 163
2018 169
2021 179
2022 185
2023 205

There's obviously a huge spike from $95 -> $149. From 2015's price of $149 to the new price of $205, I think this slightly outpaces inflation. I would certainly disagree with the notion that the pricing has remained the same for years, as it is consistently increased most years.

The larger prices increases are from the e-bikes, which have increased from 10 cents per minute with a $2 cap for all rides starting or ending outside of Manhattan (when they were reintroduced late 2019/2020), to 17 cents per minute with a $3 cap for all rides entering or exiting Manhattan. That's like a 50%-200% increase over 3 years.

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