Citi Bike’s New Prices Take Effect

New York City’s bike share program is increasing its prices to help fund station upgrades and more e-bikes, reports Andrew Giambrone in Gothamist. Annual memberships will go up from $205 to $219.99, and single rides and unlocking fees for non-members will also go up slightly. Although the reduced fare membership cost will stay the same at $5 per month, an article on Staten Island Live points out that “extra time fees for rides beyond the included time of 45 minutes increased to 20 cents per minute. E-bike fees for Reduced Fare Bike Share members increased to 10 cents per minute.”

The system, operated by Lyft, plans to expand to 40,000 bikes and e-bikes and 2,000 stations and double its number of e-bikes. Later this year, the program will open its first electrified stations to streamline the charging process for their e-bikes. “Last year, more than 1.4 million riders clocked nearly 36 million trips on Citi Bike, a new annual record, with the average Citi Bike member taking 130 rides.” Ridership came largely from members, who took 75 percent of rides.