Bike-Share Companies Eye Dockless Expansion In NYC

NEW YORK — Enthusiasm for dockless bike-sharing in parts of the outer boroughs has some companies eyeing an expansion of the fledgling service. The city's Department of Transportation recently gave a three-month extension to its pilot program that's testing dockless bikes in Staten Island, the central Bronx and the Rockaways in Queens.

Two of the three companies involved the pilot, JUMP Bikes and LimeBike, say strong demand warrants growing the geographic reach of the program, which allows cyclists to rent bikes without having to park them in curbside stations.

"The success of Lime’s pilot program clearly shows that there is demand for our dock-free vehicles in New York — and citywide expansion would give millions of New Yorkers access to more reliable, affordable transportation," Phil Jones, Lime's senior director of East Coast strategic development and government relations, said in a statement.

The dockless bike program launched in three boroughs this past summer. The DOT initially said it would include Coney Island in the program, but there are now no plans to roll out a pilot there, a department spokeswoman said.

As of Monday, JUMP had racked up more than 24,000 trips in Staten Island and more than 16,000 in The Bronx since the pilot program's launch. The company offers so-called pedal-assist electric bikes, which give the rider a motorized boost.

Close to 30 percent of JUMP riders in Staten Island and nearly 10 percent in The Bronx use the bikes at least three times a week, the company says.

"We’ve also seen a lot of interest in our bikes in other parts of the Bronx and Staten Island, and are hopeful that the Department of Transportation will help us meet this demand by expanding our service areas to cover the entirety of both boroughs," said Alix Anfang, a spokeswoman for Uber, which owns JUMP.

JUMP says it can measure that interest by the significant number of Uber users who look at the bikes on the ride-hailing app while outside of its current dockless service area. Some 200,000 people citywide did so in September, a spokeswoman for JUMP said.

Lime, which is serving the Rockaways and Staten Island, has ongoing conversations with the DOT about the pilot program, a company spokeswoman said. It doubled its fleet in the Rockaways to 400 regular and pedal-assist bikes at the end of September when another firm, Pace, dropped out of the pilot.

Lime says it recorded more than 70,000 rides in the first four months of the program, with it being particularly popular with lower income New Yorkers. A survey revealed more than 60 percent of its riders' households make $50,000 a year or less.

"We will continue to work with the City to provide new transportation options to more New Yorkers in order to improve transit equity in the city," Jones said.

Citi Bike is providing dockless service in The Bronx in addition to running the city's five-year-old docked bike network.

Citi Bike did not say whether the company is considering a dockless expansion, but said that it's up to the DOT and the city where and how expansion will occur based on the neighborhoods' needs.

A DOT spokeswoman, Alana Morales, noted that the program has been extended for 90 days and said the department "will continue to monitor the pilots over the 90 day period."

(Lead image: JUMP and Citi Bike launched dockless bikes in the central Bronx this summer. Photo from New York City Department of Transportation/Flickr)