Citi Bike has increased its footprint by about 11% in New York City, adding 234 stations across seven new neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday.
The expansion adds more than 3,700 docks in Bay Ridge, Brownsville, East New York and Kensington in Brooklyn, Norwood and Riverdale in the Bronx, and Forest Hills in Queens, City Hall said.
“Riding a bike is one of the best ways to get around the city, and expansions like this one help more New Yorkers get where they need to go,” Mamdani said.
The project began under former Mayor Eric Adams, who announced it in December 2024.
Installation started in Bay Ridge last fall where riders have already taken more than 75,000 trips, according to City Hall.
Lyft has other plans to add “hundreds of docks” within the existing service area this fall, including in Midtown, Chelsea, Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Gowanus, City Hall said.
But the growing network comes amid complaints that riding the silver electric bikes has become too expensive.
DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn told a New York Law School breakfast Oct. 8 that “reducing costs for riders is a very high priority for us right now.”
Flynn noted — without being asked — that the bike share system was established without direct public subsidies and said the next city contract would offer an opportunity to rethink affordability.
“We know that our micromobility share programs were set up without direct public subsidies,” Flynn said. “So I’m happy to talk more about affordability.”
The city’s agreement with operator Lyft expires in 2029 but can be amended at any time, which the two sides have done before.
Transportation Alternatives is a non-profit that is leading the push for the city to subsidize Citi Bike so riders pay no more than $3 for a 45-minute e-bike ride.
But Lyft is one of Transportation Alternative’s top donors and is listed on the group’s $100,000+ tier in fiscal 2024 the latest year available, according to TA’s donor records.
