The popular Citi Bike program is set to get an extensive expansion throughout four New York City boroughs.
The de Blasio administration on Tuesday announced that over the next five years, Citi Bike will double its service area and triple its bike fleet. By 2023, the expansion will bring Citi Bike to all of Manhattan, as well as into the Bronx, and deeper into Brooklyn and Queens.
City officials hope the access to bikes will improve economic outcomes for lower-income residents, boost people’s health, and shorten commute times.
“With double the territory and triple the number of bikes over the next few years, Citi Bike will become an even better option for travel around New York City,” Mayor de Blasio said of the expansion, which is being funded by a $100 million investment from Lyft.
Until now, Citi Bike has only been available in some parst of Manhattan and Brooklyn, and just a fraction of Queens.
Citi Bike has already begun its expansion, starting with 25 new stations along the L-train corridor in East Williamsburg and Bushwick. New stations will pop up in Bed-Stuy, Brownsville, Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, East Flatbush, Sunset Park, South Slope, Windsor Terrace, Prospect Park South, and Kensington.
Within the next few months, the city will break ground on new stations in Queens neighborhoods Sunnyside, Maspeth, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and Corona.
In the Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, Port Morris, Highbridge, Claremont, Morrisania, Longwood, Concourse, and Mt. Eden will be getting stations.
To round out Manhattan’s Citi Bike program, an expansion will take place in Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Sugar Hill, Washington Heights, and Inwood.
“Citi Bike is an effective, healthy and sustainable mode of transportation for many New Yorkers, and I’m thrilled this next phase will give even more New Yorkers the opportunity to bike around the five boroughs,” Speaker Corey Johnson said of the expansion.
But the project doesn’t come without concern. So far this year, 15 NYC cyclists have been killed on city streets.
“… as biking becomes more popular we must make sure we make it safe to ride in New York City. I look forward to working with the Department of Transportation on establishing an connected network of protected bike lanes…” Johnson added.
