newjerseynewsroom.com

Thursday
May 31st

Citi Bike program in New York City set for summer launch

Tuesday, 29 May 2012 12:37
BY ANA FERRER
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A New Yorker’s cab-hailing arm is a force to be reckoned with, but now they will be able to give those arms a rest and take a bike ride instead.

Citi Bike is a new bike-sharing program privately sponsored by Citi and MasterCard set to launch this July.

The system will have 600 stations and 10,000 bikes spread throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

According to the Citi Bike website, “54 percent of all trips that New Yorkers make are less than two miles. Bike share will make these trips cheap, easy, efficient and fast.”

The bike program will represent “an all-new, 24-hour transportation network,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “Subways and buses don’t always go where you want to go, and that can mean a long walk or taxi ride.”

Metropolis reported that although the program won’t involve any public spending, it will have user fees. Users can either buy an annual pass for $95, a daily pass for $9.95 or a weekly pass for $25.

With those fees, bikers can ride for a short time for free and then the charges slowly increase with the time of use.

Previewed stations include neighborhoods all over Manhattan, parts of Brooklyn and Queens, based on suggestions made by New Yorkers that submitted their ideas online through a suggestion map, community workshops held throughout the service area and community board meetings directly held with NYC DOT.

Citi Bike is still working with New Yorkers to refine further station locations in Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Park Slope, Cobble Hill and other neighborhoods.

Citi provided $41 million for the program while MasterCard added another $6.5 million in funding and will also be providing the payment system, according to Businessweek.

A Quebec-based company, PBSC Urban Solutions that has provided vehicles for 10 similar programs in Melbourne, Boston and London, manufactures the bikes. The bikes were built strong enough to withstand impact from something “larger than a car."

Back to Top

 

Add your comment

Your name:
Subject:
Comment:
yvComment v.1.20.0


Follow/join us

Twitter: njnewsroom Linked In Group: 2483509

Hot topics

 

Children can be conned out of inheritance after multiple marriages

BY CAROL ABAYA NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM THE SANDWICH GENERATION Multiple marriages and blended families can mean children get cheated out of money and assets their parent(s) earned and had before the second or third marriage. At the 2012 senior citizens’ law day conference, Lawrence A. Friedman, Bridgewater elder law attorney, said elders need to protect their children of prior marriages from being disinherited. "Even if your spouse’s current will provides for your children, your spouse may change it after you pass away,” he said. In addition to protecting one's child, an appropriate will can minimize N.J. estate taxes, which kick in if assets are over $675,000. At the conference, Cathyanne Pisciotta from North Brunswick discussed guardianship which could be necessary if various legal documents are not signed. Pisciotta said that if a person does not have a durable power of attorney (for financial affairs) and a living will (for medical decisions), anyone else can seek guardianship of that person. An expensive court proceeding is mandatory. And she said, “If one person seeks guardianship, someone else can challenge the appointment. Another relative may seek to be appointed guardian because he/she wants the money and power.”

 

NJNR Press Box

 

Join New Jersey Newsroom.com on Twitter

 

Be a Facebook fan of New Jersey Newsroom.com


**V 2.0**