Citi Bike has no pride.
The Lyft-owned bikeshare system has pledged to stop misinforming customers about why its electric bikes are now capped at 15 miles per hour — a change that customer service reps said was due to Pride Weekend when, in fact, it stemmed from a threat from the Adams administration.
Citi Bike user Michael Gormally told Streetsblog that he reached out to Citi Bike customer service after noticing the speed reduction and was told that it was a temporary change "due to pride weekend as a request from the Mayor's Office."
Streetsblog then followed up and called the same customer service line and was told the same thing: "The changes are for Pride Weekend, and if you want more information, go to the Citi Bike blog online for more information."
But that was not at all true. In fact, the reduction in Citi Bike top speeds from 18 to 15 miles per hour occurred days after Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro wrote a letter to Citi Bike demanding the change, citing an alleged "public health emergency" from 18 mph electric bikes.
Lyft initially said it would defy the Adams administration's request, until Mastro's letter upped the ante and Lyft announced it would indeed implement the requested speed cap by last Friday.
Gormally has been a member of Citi Bike since 2018 and is unhappy about the change to e-bikes. But he added that he is especially unhappy with the way that Citi Bike has been updating users on the changes.
"The additional annoyance is the deceptive or absent communication on the part of the company," he said.
But after Streetsblog asked about it, the policy will change, a representative said.
"We will address any misinformed customer service responses to ensure that riders are aware of this new pedal-assist speed limit."
Pride Week culminates Sunday with a parade and many many festivities. Click here for details.
