Citibike ‘wobbly’ from success: 100k annual maintenance-intensive members

NY Bicycle Share, the Sunset Park based subsidiary of Alta Bicycle Share, which owns and operates Citi Bike, has had a hard first year.

Though by all accounts bike share, despite its detractors, almost instantly became part of the fabric of urban life, it’s also been hit by Superstorm Sandy, delays, a hard first winter, maintenance trouble, software trouble and lower than expected use by tourists. In fact, in a way, it’s popularity has been a revenue problem, too, because so many New Yorkers went all in with annual memberships.

The company is said to be in desperate need of money and the new mayor is playing hardball. That said, it’s hard to believe that something that has taken such a heavy load off transit and streets could be let to cut back, but time will tell.

The key parts of the story are sketched out somewhat by The New York Times:

Revenues for the program have been roughly in line with initial projections, but too much has come from annual members, whose frequent riding has introduced unexpected maintenance costs. Not enough has come from tourists, who were expected to buy daily passes en masse, at little cost to the system.

The Alta team, based in Portland, Ore., has at times been frustratingly disengaged, supporters of the program say. Paul Steely White, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a rider advocacy group that helped bring bike sharing to New York City, said the company appeared “content just to sort of let the New York system founder.”

[The New York Times]