New York City’s new bike-share program Citi Bike officially launched this morning at 11 AM and there are already more than 17,550 New Yorkers signed up with annual memberships.
With 6,000 blue bikes filling the streets today, New York is already the largest bike-share in America. Although this pales in comparison to several bike-share programs abroad, it is nearly six times the size of the capital’s established system.
New York is also one of the most expensive bike-shares to join. An annual members costs $103.43 (with tax) and provides bikers with 45-minutes of free ride time. Drop the bike off just 5 minutes over that and riders will be charged $2.50, a small fee that could quickly add up over several rides.
Forty-five minutes with a $2.50 overtime fee is the average among U.S. bike-share programs. Miami bike-share members are charged $4 for any time over thirty minutes, but Houston riders are only charged $2 after an hour.
Bikers can also re-dock their bikes for anywhere between 15 seconds (in DC) and 5 minutes (in Chattanooga) before taking it out for another free spin.
“The [bike-share] system is set up so that people never really have to incur fees,” explains Nice Ride Minnesota Marketing Director Anthony Ongaro to Skift.
NYC Bike Share will attempt to contact new riders that don’t fully understand the concept of short rides. The NYC rental agreement states:
Any use that exceeds a period of 24 consecutive hours is deemed a disappearance of the Citi Bike bicycle… NYCBS will attempt to contact Member via telephone and email before charging the Member’s credit or debit card, by using the contact information provided by Member when subscribing to the Services.
Going beyond annual membership fees, we’ve compared how long other U.S. bike-share members get to ride for free and what fees they pay for a few minutes of overtime or a lost bike:
| City | Annual membership fee | Free trip length (minutes) | Overtime fee for first 30 minutes | Lost/stolen bike fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City (Citi Bike) | $95 | 45 | $2.5 | $1,200 |
| Washington, DC (Alta) | $75 | 30 | $1.5 | $1,000 |
| Boston (Alta) | $85 | 30 | $1.5 | $1,000 |
| Anaheim, CA (Bike Nation) | $75 | 30 | $1.5 | x |
| Miami Beach (DecoBike) | $180 ($15/month) | 30 | $4 | $800 |
| Chattanooga, TN (Bike Chattanooga) | $75 | 60 | $2.5 | $1,000 |
| Minneapolis (Nice Ride Minnesota) | $65 | 30 | $1.5 | x |
| Houston (B-cycle) | $65 | 60 | $2 | $1,200 |
| Boulder (B-cycle) | $65 | 60 | $4.5 | $1,200 |
| Hawaii (B-cycle) | $50 | 30 | $2.5 | $1,000 |
We’ve also compared the number of stations, bikes, and annual members in ten U.S. cities.
| City | Annual members | Stations | Bikes | Launch date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City (Citi Bike) | 17,550+ | 300 | 6,000 | May 2013 |
| Washington, DC (Alta) | 22,000* | 115 | 1,100 | September 2010 |
| Boston (Alta) | 7,000 | 105 | 1,000 | July 2011 |
| Anaheim, CA (Bike Nation) | ~100 | 3 | 25 | January 2013 |
| Miami Beach (DecoBike) | ~2,400 | 100 | 1,200 | March 2011 |
| Chattanooga, TN (Bike Chattanooga) | 5,50 | 31 | 300 | July 2012 |
| Minneapolis (Nice Ride Minnesota) | ~ 3,750 | 170 | 1,550 | June 2010 |
| Houston (B-cycle) | 366 | 21 | 173 | May 2012 |
| Boulder (B-cycle) | 1,000 | 22 | 150 | May 2011 |
| Hawaii (B-cycle) | 57 | 2 | 16 | Apirl 2011 |
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