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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.

108

Lawless_Flogic t1_j29b0fk wrote

Me too. Plus you can never find a bike (or an open dock) when/where you actually need them. Maybe they could justify this cost if they actually maintained the bikes, but they are always trash.

34

High-On-Benadryl t1_j29wh1p wrote

>I'm out.

Don't kid yourself. If you've been using the service consistently, you're not going back.

25

nationalmoz t1_j2a2tqy wrote

I don't use it consistently because it's too expensive. It's not a viable commute option, so it's for 3 summer rides.

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brownredgreen t1_j2dtqs5 wrote

Lol.

Nobody changes their behavior, huh? Dumb fuckin post.

4

AsaKurai t1_j29bvcc wrote

The cost increase is about a couple of bike rides, it's still very much worth it if you are a frequent user

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iv2892 t1_j29gstk wrote

Is it better than just buying our own bike ?

5

AsaKurai t1_j29h38i wrote

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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idontstopandchat t1_j2aclz9 wrote

The main appeal of these bikes for me is being able to dock it and forget about.

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iv2892 t1_j2ah7oo wrote

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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idontstopandchat t1_j2ahm9d wrote

The people you see doing that most likely haven’t acquired their citibikes legally.

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Nesaru t1_j2brzzx wrote

Cheaper to take the bike on the train and then ride to your final destination to dock it, than pay for one bike ride on one end and a second bike ride on the other end

3

jeffsayno t1_j2akf1n wrote

share your account. One person can use a key, the other the app

3

[deleted] t1_j28sr65 wrote

[deleted]

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Guypussy t1_j29qy8b wrote

Public masturbation and anywhere in the city?

4

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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MLao_ t1_j2a1usw wrote

"Inflation", a popular excuse to drive up prices for no reason.

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Suhweetusername t1_j2fp7cl wrote

Why is inflation not a valid reason? Bikes still need to be bought and serviced, and employees still need to be paid.

4

scruffywarhorse t1_j2a9x1t wrote

Wasn’t this supposed to be like a city program? Why are they allowed to be this shitty?

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Vegetable-Length-823 t1_j28k9gc wrote

So fascism in action again...... Happy new year

−110

tatatatata99 t1_j28p085 wrote

Which part of this is fascism lmao

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Vegetable-Length-823 t1_j28qbuw wrote

Private corp colluding with the city to have a rigged market on rented bikes

−51

tatatatata99 t1_j28rfg3 wrote

Not fascism, some form of corruption maybe you could argue that but it’s important not to dilute the meaning of words by using them inappropriately

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Smacpats111111 t1_j28yv9v wrote

“Citibike raising prices is fascism” can you just read that back and realize how silly you are

25

Aljowoods103 t1_j28wcud wrote

Stop using words if you don’t know what they mean to try to rule ppl up. You sound like a pissy little child.

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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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pixel_of_moral_decay t1_j293kop wrote

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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vowelqueue t1_j2dyitn wrote

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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d2d2d2d2d2 t1_j2espke wrote

Thank you! God forbid someone bring some actual data to this conversation...

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Bangkok_Dangeresque t1_j29mm1h wrote

>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

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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Bangkok_Dangeresque t1_j29rakr wrote

>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

pixel_of_moral_decay t1_j29wg24 wrote

The city could look to use tax dollars to subsidize it. Shift the top tax brackets up to 2.5% and increase everyone over $150k and you'd have that plus some extra money for schools.

0

Bangkok_Dangeresque t1_j2a15td wrote

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.

4

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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AdventurousTwo960 t1_j28hsqz wrote

What’s the equity membership?

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doodle77 t1_j28kbkd wrote

Food stamps recipients can get an annual membership for $60.

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sutisuc t1_j28qxas wrote

I think people in NYCHA also get this option

17

brownredgreen t1_j2dtnn3 wrote

Amazing. People who need help getting FOOD are still charged.

We really have a problem giving the needy things for free, huh?

−5

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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movingtobay2019 t1_j2btm77 wrote

While true, I doubt the people bitching about this price increase can afford the annual fee on CSR.

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dilellooo t1_j2d6r0o wrote

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

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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iv2892 t1_j29h1c4 wrote

Is it worth using e bike when riding around let’s say most of queens ?

4

NY08 t1_j2cgltu wrote

We have the best transit system in the country so hard to complain too much.

2

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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Lawless_Flogic t1_j29bc4w wrote

The only problem is that I can never find a bike when I need one.

2

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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NY08 t1_j2cgjgx wrote

There’s a ton of theft. You see hobos with citibikes all the time

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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

9

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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CactusBoyScout t1_j2cn52x wrote

I cancelled and got an electric scooter. I can bring it in far more places than a bicycle because it’s smaller but definitely a bumpier ride.

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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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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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vowelqueue t1_j2902o7 wrote

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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webswinger666 t1_j291zn8 wrote

i’d rather pay higher annual fee and get rid of the per minute fee.

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CactusBoyScout t1_j2cmq3w wrote

They’re still manually replacing e-bike batteries which is a huge cost in terms of labor.

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FyuuR t1_j291fwn wrote

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.

1

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.

4

Darbies t1_j2aq9kb wrote

I always thought this was limited to delivery drivers. So anyone can rent one of these recreationally, like the same way you would a Citibike?

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CamJam36 t1_j2aqod9 wrote

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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Darbies t1_j2ars15 wrote

Thanks for the tip, I'm going to give this a shot right now actually - the weather approves.

1

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.

3

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

bklynzboy t1_j2bgcnc wrote

Buy your own bikes

3

sleepsucks t1_j2dvi1o wrote

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.

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

bitter_vet t1_j29h64e wrote

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

2

jordanmcarson t1_j29xnoc wrote

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

2

tiregroove t1_j2c6k4o wrote

Just FYI they're privately owned, (by Lyft) not subsidized by the city in any way. It's not a public service.
The cool thing is, you can always buy a bike instead.

2

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.

2

thebruns t1_j2ccjtu wrote

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

2

ryanhoulihan t1_j2939jv wrote

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

1

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

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

1

Some-Ruin4706 t1_j2b14dn wrote

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?

7

YourNameHeer t1_j2b2li8 wrote

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

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!

5

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

1

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

knockatize t1_j29izga wrote

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

0

morelikeaaronfudge t1_j28rqan wrote

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

−8

ThePinga t1_j290azi wrote

They are very easy to ride

6

morelikeaaronfudge t1_j2964pi wrote

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

ThePinga t1_j2969d0 wrote

I think you got jello for thighs or something

11

morelikeaaronfudge t1_j29dxn7 wrote

I'm sorry but you are not correct. Those bikes don't pick up any speed to go up a hill. And I mean an actual hill not 5 feet. There's some big hills in this city. Kindly fuck off.

−7

ThePinga t1_j2asju2 wrote

I’ve done the bridges hundreds of times on my commute. On regular bikes. Do some squats homie

3

morelikeaaronfudge t1_j2b2n0e wrote

I do squats they don't fix broken bikes. They've been half broken 90% of the time I get on them.

1

Phaedrusnyc t1_j2a9mc5 wrote

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.

1

morelikeaaronfudge t1_j2ah5qj wrote

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