Check the date! It's a fake!
Here's what the original joke story said, however:
APRIL 1 — Double your pleasure!
Citi Bike will add two-seaters to the nation's biggest bike-sharing fleet starting on Tuesday, April 1, Streetsblog has learned exclusively.
The Lyft-owned rentable bike company confirmed the news after a Streetsblog reporter happened upon two Citi Bike employees testing out the new wheels in a remote corner of Forest Park in Queens, far beyond the current Citi Bike footprint.
The company said the tandem bikes — which will all be electric and will reach speeds of 18 miles per hour — are expected to boost ridership and the overall appeal of biking.
"Imagine how great it would be to be able to bike with that someone special?" said Citi Bike spokesperson Jordan Levine. "Now you won't have to try to squeeze next to each other in a bike lane."
To accommodate the new bikes, Citi Bike will also deploy an entirely new docking system that will require the repurposing of a full parking space each. A spokesperson for Council Member Bob Holden said the Queens lawmaker could not be reached for comment.
"I told him about the parking spaces and he grabbed the bottle of Johnnie Walker that he keeps in the bottom drawer and just walked out into the night," said the spokesman. "I don't know if he's ever coming back."
But the anti-bike-share lawmaker may be in the minority. When Streetsblog showed off the photo to tourists at a Citi Bike dock in Herald Square on Tuesday, enthusiasm was decided.
"This is great because instead of getting two day passes, we can get just one," said Anders Hølmgren, who was visiting from Stockholm.
But don't expect the tandem to be a money-saver. Members will be able to unlock the bikes for free, but will pay $.40 per minute, a stiff increase from the 25-cents-per-minute e-bike fee for members. A tandem day pass for non-members will be $40, up from the $25-per-day non-member pass.
