Tech Glitches Are Holding Up The City’s Bike Share Program
- Michael Appleton / New York Times
City officials announced earlier in the week that the city’s hotly anticipated bike-share program wouldn’t be kicking off as planned at the end of the month, but failed to give any real reason as to why that might be.
In a press conference yesterday Mayor Bloomberg, in all his wisdom, lifted the cloak of secrecy, and the answer is pretty mundane.
They’re just having a few tech problems! Bloomberg explained, “Its software isn’t working yet. And just rest assured we’re not going to put out any program here that doesn’t work.”
When it does swing into action, Citi Bike, which will allow New Yorkers to borrow bikes at set locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens for a $95 annual membership fee, is projected to have 10,000 bikes and 600 stations by next summer.
Anyway, Bloomberg put a positive spin on the whole thing.
“The only thing about a delay — if it turns out that there is one — is that people won’t be able to use something that we think will be phenomenally popular. But until we get it working perfectly […] we’re just not going to put it out.”
He went on, “Whats fascinating is there was a lot of screaming, ‘We don’t want bikes,’ and now everybody’s screaming, ‘We want ’em now.'”
And we do! Gimme gimme gimme! Bikes bikes bikes! Just kidding, I’m terrified of operating anything with wheels in this lawless death trap of a traffic system, but still, once they finally get this whole thing up and running, should be exciting!
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.
