Sadik-Khan: NYC Bike-Sharing System Set To Launch Next Month
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York City's long delayed bike-sharing program will begin in May.
The announcement was made Monday by Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
She said that roughly half the bike stations were moved from their originally proposed locations after input from neighbors.
WEB EXTRA: Read The DOT's Report Outlining The Bike-Share Program
"Citi Bike is a transportation system designed by New Yorkers, for New Yorkers," said Sadik-Khan. "New Yorkers turned out and spoke out in the thousands to help design the network, and the system that launches next month will reflect that granular involvement."
As CBS 2's Tony Aiello reported, the program is designed to make bikes available at a low fee for short trips.
When the program gets rolling in May, about 5,000 Citi Bikes will be docked at almost 300 stations, including in the Bedford-Stuyvesant part of Brooklyn.
Some residents there said they are looking forward to the bike-share program.
"To ride around the neighborhood, that's good, that's good," one man told CBS 2's Aiello.
"Great idea!" another Bed-Stuy resident added.
"It's more easy to use a rental bike than to use my own bike," resident Sherwin McEachnie said.
But others said they are already worried about the loss of parking spots being sacrificed and the upkeep for the stations.
"There's gonna be garbage there. We don't need this right now. This is not what we need," Bed-Stuy resident Jolane Dash told Aiello.
On the southwest corner of 51st Street and Sixth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, docking stations for 59 bikes will overtake some highly coveted parking spots.
"It's gonna jam this street up pretty good I would think," one driver complained.
The mayor and the transportation commissioner said the Citi Bike project has been exhaustively evaluated.
"So is everybody gonna be happy with everything? No, this is New York. You've got 8.4 million New Yorkers and there are 8.4 million opinions about our streets and parking," Sadik-Khan said.
Citi Bike had been slated to start last summer.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the first 293 docking stations have begun to appear. Most of them will at first be in Manhattan.
The DOT said it hopes to eventually expand the program to include 600 stations and 10,000 bikes.
According to city officials, the bike-share program will offer three pricing options. There will be a day pass for $10, a weekly pass for $25 and a yearly membership for $95.
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