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Electric Citi Bike rides are about to get pricier, company announces

By

Catalina Gonella

Published Jul 3, 2024

Modified Jul 3, 2024

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A stock image of Citi Bike e-bikes

 

Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

By

Catalina Gonella

Published Jul 3, 2024

Modified Jul 3, 2024

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Riding an electric Citi Bike is about to get a little pricier.

In a message that greeted customers on the app this week, Lyft — the company that runs the ubiquitous bikeshare program — said the price hike is because battery swapping, insurance costs and vehicle expenses cost more than the company anticipated when the rates were set in December.

Lyft also said that in order to address those higher costs it's working with the city’s Department of Transportation and Con Edison to pilot charging stations, which will reduce some of the operation overhead.

“We'll continue to invest in more manual battery swapping to ensure you can find an e-bike that's charged and available for use,” the message read. “E-bike demand continues to grow — they now make up two-thirds of all Citi Bike rides.”

The price increases are between 2 and 6 cents more per minute depending on the kind of ride and the user’s membership status. Pedal bike fees are not changing.

Here's the breakdown of increases:

Lyft says the new fares are still below the cap set by the city's Department of Transportation.

Mamoudou N'diaye lives in Ridgewood, Queens and said the price increase has him reconsidering the service.

"I'm annoyed. Four more cents per-minute is kind of insane of a hike," he said. "It's all about this internal stuff like insurance and stuff. Well, sometimes the e-bikes are just plentiful enough for me to continue to do this."

He added, "It's not fair that consumers have to pay for premiums that they should be doing, because people are also still getting hurt on e-bikes."

The change is set to be implemented on July 10 and will only affect New York City, not New Jersey.

This story has been updated with an additional interview.

Tagged

new york city

citi bike

lyft

e-bikes

transportation

Catalina Gonella

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