Citi Bike: NYC bike share program

Citibike stations map of the city.
www.treehugger.com

There are 6,000 bikes and 300 stations in NYC. They're a part of a Citi Bike, NYC's bike share program, that I believe is sponsored by Citibank. People can rent out a bike for a couple of hours and return it to a station.

The program started Memorial Day weekend, which is when I first came to the city. I few things popped through my mind when I first saw them. I was worried, originally, because there are so many cars in the city and a ton of traffic. In my opinion, bikers are prone to injuries, especially in heavily populated areas.  

On the other hand, this could be a good thing. Cities like Portland, Oregon, have successfully implemented bike share programs and increased the number of bike routs throughout the city. This is environmentally friendly.

And I'm not sure how to say this in a non-granola crunchy way, but I go to Ithaca College, you excepted this. There is always the hope that maybe NYC will help "Mother Earth." I can dream, right?

Well, The New York Times published an article today about some technical problems with the bike share. The bike stations sometimes will not process payments or will not allow people to return the bikes. The customer service line, according to the article, has been very busy over the past two weeks and will leave people on hold for 45 minutes. The best thing to report though, is that no one has been injured while riding these bikes.

I haven't used the bikes yet, but everyday I pass empty stations. We'll see if I get tired of the subway.

Citi Bike station. www.treehugger.com