Bill de Blasio Will Not Bail Out Money-Losing Citi Bike

[hrmjustin]

ROSS BARKAN

Citi Bike, hard-up for cash, shouldn’t expect any help from Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The new mayor told reporters today that the city’s bike-share program, reportedly bleeding money, will probably not be getting any public dollars to help fill its coffers.

“At this moment, that’s not in our plans,” said Mr. de Blasio, responding to a question about whether the city would aid the privately-financed program at an unrelated press conference today. “We want to see what we can do help them back on their feet using other methodologies.”

Despite their popularity in some neighborhoods and their ballyhooed–if delayed–roll-out under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Citi Bike continues to lose money, according to today’s Wall Street Journal. The report cited poor weather, rising operational costs, damage to equipment during Hurricane Sandy and unexpectedly low usage by tourists as reasons for the bike share’s financial struggles.

http://politicker.com/2014/03/bill-de-blasio-will-not-bail-out-money-losing-citi-bike/

[PoliticAverse]

1. Apparently people don't like to bike in the snow...

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304256404579451770072629130

[hrmjustin]

2. Hoprfully things eill pick up in the summer.

[oshma]

3. Things would "pick up"

if Citibike had bike stations in the outer boroughs, and in lower-income neighborhoods. So far, this is a program for the wealthy and healthy.

[hrmjustin]

4. Good points.

I think it eould do well in my neighborhood.