Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Where The Hell Are The Pedal-Assist Citi Bikes???
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Oct 2, 2019
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Citi Bike
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Oct 2, 2019
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Almost six months have passed since Lyft, the company that owns Citi Bike, removed its entire fleet of new pedal-assist e-bikes from service, citing a "stronger than expected" braking force that sent some riders careening over the handlebars. Further details about the malfunction were scarce. In a short statement, Lyft promised a new model of e-bike would be redeployed on city streets "soon."
Now it is 170 days later, and still our precious e-bikes have not returned. In the time that it's taken Citi Bike to give us an update, Mayor Bill de Blasio has mounted and subsequently abandoned a campaign for president. The Earth has completed nearly half a rotation around the sun. The MTA has repaired an entire tube of the Hurricane-ravaged L train tunnel. The MTA, for Christ's sake.
What gives? Back in May, the company told Streetsblog that the e-bikes would return come fall. And while it may not feel like it outside right now, it is most definitely fall. Technically, meteorological autumn began on September 1st, meaning we're more than a third of the way into the supposed deadline. Perhaps Lyft, like the caribou, have been thrown by this zombie summer?
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Citi Bike told Gothamist nothing had changed, and that the bikes were still scheduled to return this fall. But it is fall, we whined, the beads of sweat trickling down our backs as we climbed the Williamsburg Bridge without the help of a motor.
A Citi Bike spotted at Riverside Drive and 120th Street earlier today
Ollie Oliver
For a brief moment, there was hope. On Wednesday afternoon, an eagle-eyed cyclist spotted a bike with an e-signifying lightning bolt sticker at a dock on Riverside Drive near Columbia University. A sign! Maybe?
Unfortunately not. According to a Lyft spokesperson, the bike was merely labeled wrong. A jarring reminder of a bygone time, like momentarily mistaking a stranger for a long lost friend.
"I loved the electric assist when it first rolled out," the cyclist, who goes by Ollie Oliver, told us. "When they first pulled them, I thought, OK, technical difficulties. They'll be back in no time...I don't understand why it's taking so long."
Be patient, Ollie. The fall will come soon enough.
Tagged
we the commuters
citi bike
ebike
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC tow companies busted for ripping off drivers must give $67K in refunds, city says
Mayor Mamdani has expanded enforcement on towing scams, but the unlicensed towing industry remains largely unregulated.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 2, 2026 at 4:47 p.m. ET
Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in the Bronx, police say
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch visited the officer in the hospital.
By
Ryan Kost
News
Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in the Bronx, police say
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch visited the officer in the hospital.
By
Ryan Kost
DOC negligence factored in death at Rikers' Bellevue hospital outpost, jail officials say
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Conductor on NYC subway that dragged man to death may have skipped safety check, source says
By
Stephen Nessen
NYPD still searching for man who threw burning substance on victim in East Harlem
By
Ryan Kost
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .