NYC Comptroller raises alarm over Citi Bike service, especially in low-income neighborhoods

NEW YORK - New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has released a report calling into question Lyft’s Citi Bike service, saying it does not provide equal service across all the city's neighborhoods and that it is less reliable, particularly in low-income neighborhoods.

The report found riders could not return their bikes because docking stations were full, or were unable to take out bikes because stations were empty. 

Analyzing Citi Bike data from this summer, the report found "Citi Bike users in the Bronx are 89% more likely to encounter an unusable station than they would in the other three boroughs where Citi Bike operates."

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During the period of study, 52% of stations in the Bronx had at least one outage exceeding eight hours, while during that same timeframe, only 14% of stations in Manhattan below 59th St. had an outage of that duration.

"Lyft’s failure to deliver reliable service across the system raises alarm bells." Says Lander, "The City should overhaul the contract with more strategic performance standards and the oversight and incentives to achieve them. Making sure that New Yorkers can access working bikes and docks in every neighborhood across the city is the way to secure Citi Bike’s future as an essential and equitable component of New York City’s transportation network,"

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In response to the report, a Lyft spokesperson tells Fox 5,

"Citi Bike is the fastest growing transportation system in New York City’s history and we are in the final stages of an expansion that has more than tripled its size. A larger service area and unprecedented ridership, all in the wake of a global pandemic and shifting commuter landscape, have brought new challenges that require creative solutions. Reliability is our highest priority, and we work hand-in-hand every day with our partners at DOT to ensure that Citi Bike can best meet the growing demands of all of our more than 1.5 million passionate riders. We look forward to reviewing the report and sitting down with Comptroller Lander to discuss his findings."