Long island’s successful bike sharing program is stretching into the boroughs of Brooklyn. Citi Bike stations will be found throughout Brooklyn, from Maspeth to Middle Village. The project, which begins this summer, will include 52 new stations.
The stations will consist of 90% standard bicycles, with 10% of the fleet dedicated to pedal assistance e-bikes. The Department of Transportation released a tentative map of where they plan to install the new stations. They will consist of sidewalks and street stations that residents are already concerned about.
The additional street-located stations will reduce the already scarce parking options. Some residents complain that motorists will have to drive further away to find parking, which in turn will burn more fuel. There is no official word on how much parking residents will lose to the stations.
Community Board 5, Queens’ City Council outreach program, asked Citi Bike officials to be more transparent about the new stations. They asked them to come to their board meetings to discuss their plans with the public.
The Department of Transportation is in charge of picking the bike stations, while the company LYFT will be in charge of maintaining the bikes and the facilities. The first sign of these bikes came during phase 2 of Citi Bike’s plan to engage all of New York with their bike share program. Phases 1 and 2 gave Long Island the bikes, which have been overall a success.
There have been an estimated 27 million trips on the bikes since their implementation. That’s around 100 thousand trips per day during peak months. A single ride costs $3.99, with day passes for $15. You can get a yearly pass for $185, which roughly breaks down to $15 per month. There are discounts offered to NYCHA residents and SNAP recipients.
Citi Bike claims that their bike sharing program will help Queens, and if Long Island’s response is any indication, it will be.
