Fresh off a couple of record-setting weeks, Citi Bike is rolling into an even larger service area — the first phase of a four-year expansion that will double the system's footprint in New York.
Riders will be able to find the big blue bikes in a bigger chunk of Bushwick and, for the first time, in Ridgewood, thanks to 85 new stations in the neighborhoods, with the rollout starting next week (map below). By the time this phase is completed, there will be 14,500 Citi Bikes in the system, officials said.
The expansion is crucial for connectivity in Brooklyn. After this phase, Citi Bike will stretch from Williamsburg all the way to Broadway Junction, creating far more opportunities for riders to use a Citi Bike for first- or last-mile trips from key transit stations, including Broadway Junction.
Citi Bike's parent company, Lyft, hailed the news.
"Fresh on the heels of nearly 10 record-breaking days this summer and more than 2.3 million Citi Bike rides in August alone, we are thrilled to bring Citi Bike to more New Yorkers this month," Caroline Samponaro, Director of Micromobility Policy for Lyft, said in a statement. "And with Citi Bike directly available within the Lyft app, residents of Bushwick, Ridgewood, and beyond can soon seamlessly experience the benefits of bikeshare and how transformative Citi Bike can be for getting around our city."
The docks will be popping up in the neighborhoods even in light of the kind of odd recent op-ed from a pair of Community Board 4 officials who called Bushwick too dangerous for cycling, but didn't ask for protected bike lanes to mitigate the alleged danger. Regardless of that attempt to kneecap the expansion, it's rolling on with a community celebration next week. The news left DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg in a celebratory mood.
"Citi Bike is regularly shattering ridership records, as more New Yorkers and visitors alike discover what is, hands down, one of the most fun, healthiest, and sustainable ways to get around the city," Trottenberg said in a statement. "We are very excited about this latest development and cannot wait to add more new neighborhoods in 2020 and beyond."
Next up for the bike share system? Expansions into northern Manhattan (in Community Boards 9, 10 and 11) and the south Bronx (in Community Board 1), which will kick off with community outreach focused on where the put the docks, and installation beginning next year. That process takes months.
The current Citi Bike zone will double in sheer footprint, and triple in number of bikes to 40,000 by 2023. There is no announced plan to make the system a full city Citi Bike. Trottenberg has said it would take a huge public investment to do that, something Mayor de Blasio has repeatedly declined to do, despite putting public money in every other form of mass transit.
