On May 20th, the New York City Department of Transportation partnered with Lyft to launch the first batch of Citi Bike electric bicycle charging stations citywide. One station is located in Midtown Manhattan and the other in Greenwood in Brooklyn.
The Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation, Ydanis Rodriguez, stated that the Citi Bike electric bicycle charging stations are connected to the city’s power grid, allowing the electric bikes to be recharged while parked without manually replacing lithium batteries. The City government looks forward to continuing its collaboration with Lyft to expand the number of people riding electric bicycles in all five boroughs.
Currently, there are 15,000 electric Citi Bikes deployed across New York City, but most of them are charged centrally in warehouses and then transported to stations to replace depleted bikes. The Department of Transportation has indicated that the Citi Bike electric bike charging stations will provide key data on operations and efficiency, helping them to establish charging stations more equitably throughout the city, as well as save on operating costs.
The first batch of Citi Bike electric bicycle charging stations is located at the intersection of 35th Street and 9th Avenue in Manhattan, and at the intersection of Meserole Avenue and Manhattan Avenue in Brooklyn.
Since its launch, Citi Bike has become a part of New York City’s transportation system and is the largest bike-sharing project in the United States, with over 200 million rides taken.