THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTS THAT THE BIKE-SHARE INITIATIVE IS IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE. BUT...
Citi Bike, New York City's bike share program, has been an enormous hit with pedal-pushing Manhattanites and Leonardo DiCaprio. But it might be in trouble. The Wall Street Journalreports today that the transportation initiative's leaders "are moving quickly to raise tens of millions of dollars to rescue the popular bike-share program as it loses money, according to people familiar with the matter." Per the report, Citi Bike's financial troubles are threefold:
People do not ride bikes during the winter.
Tourists aren't using it.
Infrastructure maintenance--i.e., moving bikes between stations--has been expensive.
The first point was to be expected; who wants to ride in the snow? Here's a chart to put the winter usage decline into perspective.
What wasn't expected, however, was how popular the program would be with annual members. Some 99,000 New Yorkers pay $95 for unlimited access to the bikes in 45 minute intervals...
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