Citi Bike Launches Dockless Bike Share Experiment

Instead of expanding the traditional docked bike share stations, Citi Bike will launch new dockless bikes in the Bronx.

1 minute read

August 17, 2018, 6:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Citi Bike Rack

Joe Mazzola / flickr

"Citi Bike launched in the Bronx yesterday with a small fleet of dockless bicycles and a lot of asterisks," reports Ben Fried.

Fried did some spot checks and test rides of the company’s dockless offering on the day of the launch and discovered a "ton of potential" but enough question marks to decide the service is unreliable.

The new bikes are the first in a test run with dockless bike share instead of new docked bikes—a pilot effort undertaken by de Blasio administration. The first dockless bikes will soon multiply: "By next week, Motivate, the company that runs Citi Bike, expects to have 200 bicycles on the street in the area roughly between Bronx Park and the Harlem River."

According to Fried, however, the small service area for the new dockless bikes means, "[f]or now, these neighborhoods are getting an experiment in dockless Citi Bike, not access to bike-share that serves as a viable option for many types of trips."

Thursday, August 16, 2018 in StreetsBlog NYC

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 28, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28, 2026 - Grist

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

: Construction of massive Samsung semiconductor fabrication plant

In Texas, data centers are swallowing promised parkland

Residents who moved to Taylor, Texas for a rural community now have to contend with three data centers in their backyard.

November 3 - Inside Climate News

A construction crew working on SunZia.

How a Chicago-sized wind farm beat the odds and powered on

The project spanned five presidential administrations and a standoff with a U.S. military base.

November 3 - Grist

A rendering of the basketball court, a green court under a blue sky.

MTA gives itself 30 days to transform pit into basketball court

The site has been under construction since 2022; the city originally estimated it would finish the court in 2024.

November 3 - Gothamist