Community Corner

Ok, Now You Can Ride the Citibikes. Or Can You?

It's a giant network of rental bikes in New York City. It's going to have some hiccups.

So the Citibike program officially opened to the general public on Sunday, and there were, naturally, some problems.

Some riders who signed up reported an inability to remove bikes from their docks, or put them back in, according to the New York Post. The paper quoted one rider griping about the combination of the heat and the bike issues, which presumably just ruined their entire weekend.

The Citibike program launched for early-adopting annual members a week early in May. June 2 represented the kick-off for anyone to ride — including residents who just wanted to pay using their credit card for one-day sample memberships. 

The Post also reported some riders suffering because of a broken screen at the Chambers Street Citibike station in Lower Manhattan. Ordinarily, a full or non-functioning rack would allow riders to activate an extension to avoid getting hit with overtime charges, but with a broken screen, there was no way to enter the issue.

Despite the problems, the paper reported that more than 65,000 bike trips had been taken so far, with 14,000 of those coming between 5 p.m. June 1 and 5 p.m. June 2.

Do you like the program so far? Let us know in the comments.


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