They return their shopping cart

Heavily reformed, abso-fucking-lutely. Abolished? No bearing in reality.

You have quite a fantastical image of the government, as if "use it or lose it" policies spending all the funds in a budget aren't a thing. Or that government projects aren't actually more expensive and take longer to finish. You have to come to terms with reality, the government sucks when it comes to doing things efficiently and effectively, and at no point will building something for the government ever not be done without the help of the private sector.

If that's true, I don't know why you'd advocate for doing something that demonstrably causes users of bike sharing services to suffer. Private companies are not inherently bad, municipalities partner with them for practicality and in the best interest of the people. Do you think things would actually be better if the MTA decided to start manufacturing their trains instead of just purchasing them? Do you think the NYPD should manufacture their own cars instead of partnering with Ford? In many cases, using the private sector is the most efficient and cheapest means to an end, especially when it comes to setting up and maintaining a bike sharing network.

I'd rather not be taxed more for a service I periodically use, at a rate that costs the public 3x to create than it would for a private company to do so.

Has it ever occurred to you that publicly traded companies have to disclose where their money goes? It's fairly straightforward to see that the government does not pay for Citibike to exist, but I have a feeling it's a lost cause to mention that.

Now your motivations make sense though. Started complaining how bikes are "litter", and now you're suggesting publicly accessible services not be made available in public. You don't actually give a shit about people using Citibike, you're just a car driver upset that bike racks take up precious parking spaces.

So you think that a government contract allowing federal employees to get a discount on Lyft rides translates to "citibikes are funded by the government," and that you're entitled to steal bikes at your discretion because all things paid for by the government are actually owned by everyone? Is that really it?

Paying for a service =/= funding. You have a serious fundamental misunderstanding about what public funding means.

By your logic, is WB Mason publically funded because government offices buy their paper?

Did you even read the article whatsoever? This is a partnership for government employees to receive rideshare service. Try again.

Can you even find a single resource confirming that Citibike receives funding from taxes? Just one?

Your whole argument to justify stealing relies on the idea that Citibike is funded by taxes, which is pure fiction.

And the idea that a newly built publicly-run bike rental infrastructure would be a good allocation of funds while also exceeding what Citibike has achieved is both naive and insane.

No, but the MTA certainly cut service during the pandemic when it was collecting significantly less in fares. Removing bike racks is as simple as loading them up on a flatbed and driving off.

I'm also not sure where you got the idea that Citibike is funded by taxes. They've received funding to build in underserved neighborhoods, sure, which definitely benefited those who otherwise wouldn't have access, and I'm sure wouldn't complain about the quality of service versus none at all. Your sense of entitlement for some grand level of bike quality completely ignores those people who just want any access they can get.

So because citibike has provided "shit service" in your opinion, you think paying customers should suffer by encouraging freeloaders to steal a service—ergo you want to ensure more people suffer going forward.

Also, what makes you think "if citibike was a public service they’d be able to maintain their shit", rather than the extremely more likely case that they simply remove racks and bikes to reduce the maintenance load?

Guarantee you it isn't the paying customers that I see taking citibikes and jumping stairs with them.

I also have no idea what kind of government-run bicycle renting infrastructure you're imagining that will somehow be better than citibike. Is there even a modern example in the US?

Do us all a favor and don't leave your apartment. Supporting stealing citibikes is how paying customers end up with bikes that are beat to shit or no bikes available at all.

I have no problem understanding the economics behind their decisions—it makes sense—but that doesn't contradict what I said. It's just a shame that most would rather cut their losses and stay closed than take advantage of any late night demand or even encourage it. People won't go looking for food if there aren't any options.

I don't think so, not when you're hungry at 2am and your only choices are crappy $1 slices or McDonald's in the city that's supposed to never sleep

Not surprising when most restaurants slashed their late night hours because of the pandemic and refused to go back to their old schedules.