I wonder if there’s a difference in demand for acoustic vs. e-bikes by neighborhood? Like now that Citibike is in genuinely working-class areas. I’m always so puzzled at how many people go for the e-bikes given the cost. Somebody actually asked me once why I was riding a regular one!
There's no point riding the e-bikes now - they've crippled the speed of them for new regulations and now they're as slow as hell. This would be sort of OK if Citibike reduced the per minute rate given slower and longer trips but no - your ride now costs more money and takes more time.
By "acoustic" surely you mean "analog" right? I think the acoustic/electric binary specifically refers to musical instruments (thought I do enjoy the poetic license)
Glad I live in Seattle where we have station-less bikes, ebikes, scooters, and gliders everywhere and not in one of the backwards cities that only allow biking between a small handful of fixed stations. Don’t have to go a mile out of the way like I’m returning a video tape to Blockbuster in 1998.
You could look at trips by neighborhood and bike type: citibikenyc.com/system-data It would be cool if they would also show it with the user's home ZIP code but that might be a bit too granular.
Can’t somebodies else do it for me?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZOu...
Somebody did! www.citibikedata.nyc And yes, the Bronx is majority e-bike, with South Bronx community districts at 80%+ e-bike. Although keep in mind they have less Citi Biking overall. Perhaps fewer Citi Bike commuters and more people using it as a taxi / for leisure?
Let me correct: the entire Bronx is 80%+. Lower-income community districts like Sunset Park, Corona, Brownsville, and East NY also have higher e-bike % than their boroughs, although it's not as dramatic. Maybe the Bronx hills play a role.
E-bike rides are also half off if you have SNAP, as about half a million people in the Bronx do fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CBR36...
"Cheaper than owning a car" allowing for a wide range of spending on transport is what I'm finding
Similar impression in DC. In MoCo, most non-dock parking of e-bikes is in low-income areas. Part of it is that they're taking relatively long trips. It certainly validates the transit advocates' contention that low-income riders care more about service quality than free fares.
Some of that may come back to Capital Bikeshare for All, the means-tested subsidized access program. Before the recent rate hikes, ebike rides were free for 60 min, and out-of-station parking was also free.
I’m not poor anymore though I do remember being really broke and unemployed when it would have been hard to apply for a reduced fare, BUT
At this point I also see free bus fares with more progressive taxation as a way of transferring resources from the billionaire class to everyone else.
Yea, i have a sense that it’s partly “I’d rather take a bike now than wait 20 minutes for a bus”
Riding an e-bike has made me soft... So hard to go back to acoustic once you see how nice it is
Not familiar with those types of instruments
The regular ones are miserable to ride, especially up and down the ridge that runs down the middle of Jersey City. The cheapest biking option still riding one’s own bike after all.
Any data on that, @runsascoded.com ?
I am also surprised by that. Today i saw a woman sitting inched from the dock looking at her phone! That is cents adding up! I’m always surprised that people pay for e-bikes for short and flat trips around Williamsburg.
I rode quite a bit then blew my back out. I ride an e-bike now but would love to be able to go back to just pedal power. /64 years old
Acoustic? Like analog?
Always wonder the same with people riding Lime scooters in other cities. Do they realize how expensive it is? Four people riding together would be better off getting a taxi or uber.
I have never ridden a manual Citi Bike whose gearing didn't seem like my options were just "Pedal with no resistance, go nowhere" or "Pedal with a shit load of resistance, go nowhere."
This is why I put bikes back in the dock and report as broken when they're badly set up. I'm not paying good money for that shit. Sometimes I will return and report 6-7 bikes before getting a "good" one. If they don't like the maintenance cost of so many reports, they should setup their bikes better
bsky.app/profile/step...
