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 |  New York United States of America |
| New York United States of America |
| New York United States of America |
| New York United States of America |
New York Citi Bike
Biking has become increasingly popular in the New York City area within the last decade, especially with the rise of Citi Bike. This program has provided an easy to use bike for everyone throughout the boroughs: “Citi Bike is the nation’s largest bike share program, with 8,000 bikes and 600 stations across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Jersey City. It was designed for quick trips with convenience in mind…” 1 The program has been a large motivating factor for increasing amounts of people to utilize bicycles as a form of transportation. Citi Bike has stations in areas such as Central Park and Times Square along with outside many city colleges and museums. These key locations make it possible for quick, easy, affordable, and fun transportation around New York City.
The use of Citi Bikes’ bicycles has many benefits to both New Yorkers and visitors alike. Whether a resident or tourist, the use of the bicycles as a form of transportation allows riders to gain a true insight into city life. For example, a person can visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art located approximately at mid-Central Park on 1000 5 Avenue. After an entertaining trip to the museum, a person can check out a Citi Bike at the station right outside the museum located on 5 Avenue and East 78 Street. They can ride the bike around Central Park for 30 minutes for only $12. Central Park is a gorgeous place for riding a bicycle. On a bicycle, a person can truly explore the park. I love riding through the bike path that passes through Strawberry Fields and runs around The Lake and the Central Park Model Boat Sailing. As a Beatles fan, I love passing through Strawberry Fields and visiting the John Lennon Memorial. 3
This is a beautifully serene site to simply sit and relax enjoying the passers by, weather, and nature. When done with the Citi Bike, there is a station along the path leading back to the outside of Central Park. Since the bike can be checked in at any station, it can be left at 5 Avenue and 73 Street. By the end of the day, you feel tired yet refreshed.
There are several methods for a person to rent one of these Citi Bikes. One way to rent a bike is by buying the day pass for only $12. This guarantees a person thirty-minute rides throughout the entire day. This means that you can only have the bike away from a stand for thirty-minutes but can immediately find another bike and begin to ride again. If a person was to exceed this time period, it will cost an additional $4 for every fifteen minutes. The second way you can rent the Citi bike is to buy the three-day pass for $24. The time you are allowed to ride the bike and the late fee are the same but you are allowed to rent a bike over a 72-hour interval. The last way you can rent a Citi Bike is through the annual membership. For $163 per year, or 14.95 per month, you are able to use a bike for 45-minute intervals every day for up to a year. The late fee for this membership is only $2.50 for every 15 minutes.
The feeling a person receives when riding a bike through New York City is indescribable. There are many benefits of biking rather than driving. On a bike, a person can roam the grounds where cars may not be able to drive. Biking withholds more benefits than most people realize. A few benefits include biking being a great form of cardiovascular exercise, an affordable and efficient means of transportation, and a way to save the planet from climate change be reducing emissions. Biking is a great and fun way to exercise for those who may not like to be enclosed within a gym setting. Biking is a more affordable means of transportation than a car due to the fact that there is no registration payment, insurance payment, nor gas payment. Additionally, looking for parking will no longer be problematic because most building have bike racks directly outside the front door. Further, riding a bike to work or to local places aids in reducing traffic and congestion within New York City. New York City is one of the most densely populated cities in the United States of America. At approximately 8.5 million residents living within New York City, there is bound to be large amounts of traffic – especially in the more popular areas. With “approximately 8,000 bikes and 500 stations throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Jersey City.” 4 Citi Bikes and bike paths can help in largely decreasing traffic within busy areas. Bike paths have become a growing implementation into the streets of New York City. As of 2017, there is approximately 18.5 miles worth of protected biking lanes within New York. These lanes include both lanes that are protected by a barrier or just a line separating the lane from those of the cars. By creating these protected bike lanes, it encourages people to bike throughout the city and avoid harm or accidents.
Citi Bike’s bike share program provides New York City with additional revenue. A large amount of that income probably come from Citi Bike’s most popular stations within New York City which include “Cadman Plaza East End Red Cross Place, West 52 Street and 9 Avenue, West 54 Street and 9 Avenue, Broadway and West 53 Street, and Broadway and West 32 Street.”5 These stations were the most active of all the stations throughout New York City. This means that bikes were taken from and returned most frequently at these stations. The most recent monthly operating report is of February 2017. In February 2017 alone, the Citi Bike program brought in $470,218 in annual memberships, $177,857 in casual memberships, and $3,892 in other options as shown in Figure 3 below. Overall, the Citi Bike bike share program has been extremely beneficial to New York 6 City and its inhabitants.
Citi Bike’s bike share program is a convenient, efficient, and affordable method to transport yourself around New York City – especially for one way and local trips. Biking around New York City can also be an exuberant way to learn more about the city and make new discoveries about one of the greatest cities in the world. Further, the bike stations are dispersed throughout the City including many popular areas. The bikes are available for usage at all hours in order to accommodate all people. Moreover, biking provides for a quick workout while on the way to work or to a social event when we might not have the time to go to the gym or do not like being enclosed in a gym setting. The bikes make it possible to stay healthy in a busy lifestyle. The bikes, also, make it possible to start taking the steps to leading a greener lifestyle. By using the bicycles when making local trips or, even, longer distance trips, people can emanate less emissions making less of a carbon footprint in an already polluted City. Using Citi Bike’s bike sharing and rental service is beneficial to the person utilizing the service and all other people living in the City.
Notes
1 International, Inc. Motivate. “Citi Bike: NYC’s Most Popular Bike Rental Program.” Citi Bike NYC. Accessed April 30, 2017. https://www.citibikenyc.com/how-it-works.
2 Conservancy, Central Park. “Strawberry Fields.” The Official Website of Central Park NYC. Accessed April 30, 2017. http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/strawberry-fields.html?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F.
3 (Figure 1) As illustrated on Conservancy, Central Park. “Strawberry Fields.” The Official Website of Central Park NYC. Accessed April 30, 2017. http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/strawberry-fields.html?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F.
4 International, Inc. Motivate. “Citi Bike Questions Answered.” Citi Bike NYC. Accessed April 30, 2017. https://www.citibikenyc.com/how-it-works/faq.
5 “Here Are the Most and Least Popular Citi Bike Stations in New York City.” Nerve. June 19, 2014. Accessed April 30, 2017. http://www.nerve.com/life/most-popular-least-popular-citibike-stations-new-york-city.
6 (Figure 2) As illustrated in “February 2017 Operating Report.” Citi Bike. Accessed April 30, 2017. https://d21xlh2maitm24.cloudfront.net/nyc/February-2017-Citi-Bike-Monthly-Report.pdf?mtime=20170329110448.
