Bike Share Programs

That's just completely unfair. Don Zimmer's nut sack could be incredibly pleasant.

 

They should hire you to try to sell it to people.

I doubt that is going to convince many people who aren't already excited about this.

First off, 6,000 bicycles is not going to replace -- or really supplement much -- the MTA anytime soon, if that is what you think the purpose of this program is. Several million people ride the subway alone, every day.

The program actually doesn't seem to be aimed at actual residents of the city.

They blanketed the Village, Soho, Tribeca, lower East Side and downtown with bike stations, which is nice, but zip on the upper west and upper east sides, which are prime residential areas. Of course nothing into Harlem and Washington Heights, which have tons of actual people, not tourists.

They also blanketed large parts of Brooklyn, but concentrated on the touristy / more affluent parts between the water and Prospect Park. The stations stop abruptly before Bed-Stuy; no bikes for poorer people -- who presumably might steal them. And nothing into Cobble Hill, Carrol Gardens, etc. Those, like the upper west and upper east side in Manhattan, are prime residential areas -- and actually not served as well by the subway as well as Brooklyn Heights and Vinegar Hill and Downtown, which get just about every major line running through from Manhattan.

I'd still bet this does better in Brooklyn than in Manhattan, to the extent that actual New Yorkers use it.

But either way, that $95 (plus tax) just doesn't seem like that great a deal to me, personally. The time limit is a killer given that they didn't blanket the city with stations, but concentrated just on more chic areas -- and put them in with the idea that you are going to ride it a half mile and then return it.

Those bikes might replace walking for some people, but it's not meant to (or going to) compete with the subway. A monthly metrocard puts no limits on you. You get places quickly, rain or shine, as often as you like, with as much as you can carry. And it covers every reasonable place locally I might go -- primarily the upper west side, upper east side and big parts of Brownstone Brooklyn. I just think it is a mistake to have program like this and not cover those areas if you are going to say you are serious about serving residents and not just tourists.

For example, f I wanted to get from the W 4th and 6th to 77th and York (which actually would be a great use of a bike, because there is no easy subway service to the upper east by the water), I not only have no place to return the bike on the Upper East Side, I am going to get charged up the wazoo for my trip in addition to that annual fee I paid. Even if the premise is that it is supposed to be for shorter trips, let's say I want to get from 85th and Broadway to 96th and West End Av. It's not even an option. No bikes.

 

For what it is worth, the bike station (I think about 40 bikes) they put right outside where I live had no bikes yesterday -- several times I was out. So people were using them.

But where I live gets heavy tourist traffic -- there are several major landmarks nearby, and there already was a successful bike rental company (Bike and Roll). Looks like this program is a pretty much a new competitor for those guys in this area.

One thing I was trying to figure out. The bike rack stayed empty all day long. So let's say I signed up because there is a station right outside where I live. I'd go out there and there wouldn't ever be any bikes, if this is going to be the norm. I figured they would have manually replenished them at the end of the day to resdistribute the bikes, but we were walking home last night at 1 a.m. and the rack still had zero bikes. Everyone had taken the bikes and returned them elsewhere. I am curious about whether they are going to work that out.