Staten Island and The Bronx are still waiting for Citi Bike
Citi Bike expanded to Harlem, Crown Heights, Long Island City and Astoria last week, but the Bronx and Staten Island are still waiting for the rental bikes to get to their streets.
Last May, the private company that runs Citi Bike, Motivate, started negotiations with the New York City Department of Transportation for a possible expansion to the outer boroughs.
In Manhattan, Motivate reimburses the city for lost revenue from parking meters that are displaced by Citi Bike stands. But to expand, the privately funded company asked the city to waive those fees in outer boroughs according to an article in Metro news. The city has not given a response to this petition.
“The inequities are still extremely apparent”, said Rose Uscianowski, Staten Island organizer for Transportation Alternatives, a non-profit organization that works as an advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit in New York City since 1973.
Citi Bike did try to reach out to Staten Island and the Bronx by bringing temporary bike stations for test rides through August and September. The events were canceled by the city Department of Transportation on August 11 because Motivate can only operate in areas where it has already expanded, and it didn’t have permission to do demonstrations in these boroughs.
Rosa Castro, a Bronx resident, heard about the cancelled rides. “Bronx has limited resources. I think that would’ve been really positive and it could’ve been much easier for us if they include us”, she said.
Motivate did not comment despite several attempts.
Not everyone thinks Citi Bike should expand soon. Kevin Daloia, Bronx activist committee co-chairman for Transportation Alternatives, thinks that before installing a bike-share program, the city needs to provide safer lanes.
According to a NYC bike map, there are 170 miles of bike paths, bike lanes and greenways in the Bronx and 75 miles in Staten Island. Erwin Figueroa, Bronx Transportation Alternatives organizer, notes that these lanes often aren’t connected to each other. “You can be riding on the bike lane and feel safe but suddenly and abruptly the bike lane stops,” he said in an interview.
It’s the same situation in Staten Island, according to Abigail Kunitz, a cyclist and member of the Transportation Alternative’s Staten Island Activist Committee. She says she would like to see a network of lanes that connect the island from north to south and east to west.
