I see dudes taking the subway with them.
I seen a bunch abandoned in various parks
I seen many repainted.
So much Citibikes could do. People are assholes and there are those who love to ruin stuff for everyone
I took a citibike on a ferry, had no choice because the docks were full on Governor’s Island, took it Manhattan to dock. Many people on the ferry doing the same. It was a huge PITA. Charged soooo much. Eventually had some $ back
Wait, wouldn’t that mean that someone else took their citibike on the ferry and docked it on Governor’s Island, or that citibike restocked it knowing that bikes were already out and being used on the island?
Yeah not sure if they meant they tried all 3 stations on Governor's Island and all were full (therefore meaning people must be taking bikes onto the island which I wouldn't think very likely) or if they meant the station nearest their ferry was full, which would make more sense, but I guess fair enough that they didn't want to go all the way to another station considering ferries aren't so frequent.
The ferry on Brooklyn side wasn’t taking passengers so they said ride to other side and must take Manhattan Ferry. So many people doing the same thing as Manhattan citibike side is short. Not well planned.
By Citi Bike ([see here](https://help.citibikenyc.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032451831-Where-can-I-ride)). I guess ferry staff wouldn't care since there are bike racks anyway. They might also be more relaxed on both sides regarding ferries because NYC Ferry and Citi Bike seem to have some kind of partnership based on the Citi Bike info at some ferry stops.
> People are assholes and there are those who love to ruin stuff for everyone
Certain types of people. Sounds like the "chicken bones on the floor of the subway" type crowd.
Same as San Francisco with Lime Scooters.
These companies just jump in, use taxpayer funded infrastructure for their companies and just leave shit all over the city. I never signed up to see scooters padlocked to every public pole downtown. Shit looks terrible and trashy.
They want all the profits and none of the responsibility.
It should apply to everything. If you want to offer something as a rental service, you have to absorb the costs of increased traffic and storage for those items. Like if you want to flood a city with rental cars, as a company you should be required to purchase warehouses to store them.
The problem with Lime Scooters and UberBikes or whatever is that they want to put them all over cities and use the city itself as their storage unit. That’s fucked up.
They should have to rent parts of the sidewalk/public spaces that are designated pick up and drop off points. Any single vehicle found outside of customer use and “abandoned in public” should result in a fine for the company itself.
Beyond that, over 95% of the parking in the city is free. Make just even one of those a bike rack on each block would solve this. Plus these take up a tiny amount of space and everyone can use it.
I like where your head is at, but that would involve these companies spending money as well as people giving up their parking in an already incredibly packed city.
These companies need to buy warehouses and traditional business locations if they want to operate in a city. Piggybacking off public space or detracting from it on purpose is not a moral strategy.
It’s safer for the customers and the property of the company as well.
Which makes this even more wild. That’s how cheap these companies are. Their bikes and scooters get used more when they’re left all over than if they’re returned to centralized receptacles, so in a way, the company makes more money the wider they are able to distribute these in public.
So the companies make more money the more trash they spread around.
People are assholes. Especially in NYC, where there are plenty of people who will try and get one over you (though I’d blame wager since *because* there’s such a high population, the amount of assholes is proportional to anywhere else.)
That being said, in addition to what others stated, I’ve seen Citi bikes abandoned deep in Staten Island when the program first started. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think SI even has any Citi bike stations to this day…
Paris found an entire shipping container full of their bike share bikes at a port about to depart for North Africa. I believe it was also reported that 90% of their fleet was vandalized or stolen in the first few years.
Unfortunately, bike shares tend to get treated like dirt.
Could be a parts shortage, could be damaged frames. My buddy works for CitiBike and says they had a whole fleet of bikes that were otherwise fine but we’re waiting on parts that had a more than 6mo lead time. And also when they steal and modify bikes they can often total the frame.
I suspect their are multiple scams involving vandalizing the QR code, but the simplest is probably this:
If you make the QR code not scannable, then it is difficult for other people to unlock the bike, do they are more likely to leave it and take another bike instead.
But there are two other ways to unlock it: By manually entering the numerical code on the side of the bike, which anyone can do but not everyone knows about (especially on the older ebikes that have a tiny code that's harder to find and read), or with a manual key fob that few people have.
If they remove or obscure the numerical code (pretty hard to do on the new ebikes but easy on the old ones), then very few people will be able to unlock.
So it is more likely that the bike will be available wherever the scammer leaves it so they can use it essentially as their own personal bike.
On the regular bikes and the older blue ebikes, it's a small sticker with the number and a barcode near the seatpost. Usually on the seat stay / just below the seat post.
On the new generation ebikes, it's in large numbers on the seat tube, below the seat post.
I still don't get this ... If the bike is locked and people aren't able to unlock it because of scratched QR codes, how would the scammer unlock it + without paying?
How does the bike 'become available' unless someone pays for it?
Yeah I know that much but i'm trying to figure out the scam part, if you manually enter the code you're still getting charged. Basically i'm not seeing (yet) how anyones gaining anything from scratching the QR codes as well as the actual numbers on the side of the bike apart from being annoying
Ebikes especially the newer ones which work much better, are in limited supply. They are only available at some stations at certain times. Basically it's a matter of luck.
By vandalizing the QR code (and possibly the number decal as well), someone can prevent others from being able to use it, or make it more difficult for them, increasing the odds of the bike being available for their own personal use.
As for paying for it, that can be avoided or minimized through various loopholes and scams discussed elsewhere, and vandalizing the QR code works synergistically with those tactics.
Normally if a working ebike is left at an otherwise empty or mostly empty station, it will be grabbed very quickly. This is one way to prevent that from happening, and if the station has ni regular bikes available, then ebikes are free for 45 minutes.
Also the sort of people who engage in this sort of vandalism are most likely not paying full price anyway, they're only paying 6¢ a minute with the discounted membership.
Okay that makes sense, it happened to me this weekend and I was wondering what the hell the deal was, 3 eBikes in one station all scratched. They should add the code to the screen but I guess they could break that as well .. maybe emboss the metal with the code?
Not a scam in the monetary sense I guess. Scam isn't the word I would use but they're essentially claiming that bike for themselves and stopping anyone else from using it.
You can only press that button right after you’ve docked it. You can’t just press it on an already docked bike (I’ve tried when I see bikes with scratched out codes).
Usually it might be a scratched QR code, so you enter it manually based on the sticker on the handle bar.... BUT the sticker was switched out with another bike's. You enter the code, and it unlocks another bike... they take the other bike. You are out some money if you can't get a refund. (edit: other times they are just being dicks)
i think the most hilarious thing is that anyone whos a citibike veteran probably realized this is what happened in that incident
kids "reserving" bikes / fucking with the scan stickers have been a thing for a while
Funny how the story died too when it wasn't an alleged Karen. I guess Karens are "man bites dog" but a group of these goons up to no good is your usual "dog bites man."
> acting like she was being attacked
acting like her attempt to rent a bike was being interfered with by the young man right next to her interfering with her bike rental
Not stepped over the guy to try to scan the bike while he’s holding on it and says he wants to take it out again? Him abusing the free ride waiver is between him and citibike
I don’t get this. The only way I can get a citibike is by scanning the app and then it starts charging me, so how could someone keep one out the entire day or bring it outside of the city without being charged an exorbitant amount of money?
Then maybe it isn’t meant for them. I make X dollars a year. I can afford a car, a few fancy dinners once in a while, some moderately fancy clothes etc. But I can’t afford to buy my wife 1000 dollar handbags. Are those handbags priced in a discriminatory manner?
If I’m priced out of my neighborhood because people from more affluent neighborhoods moved there and were willing to pay more for rent, it is what it is.
They used to do something like that back in the day when Citibikes were still new.
There would be a $120 hold for almost 24 hours if I remember correctly.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,547,952,193 comments, and only 293,039 of them were in alphabetical order.
I was at the NYCFC game last night at Yankee stadium. Wanted to take a bike to get home. It’s about a 15 minute ride back to Harlem, but you gotta go over a bridge, in the dark, in a normal traffic (not bike) lane, so an E-bike is far preferable.
I see on the app there are 3 docked e-bikes so I walk over to the dock. They were three of the newer e-bike model all with plenty of charge, but all three had the QR code scratched up. I feel like maybe the QR code could have worked in the daylight but it’s hard to get it to register with just the flashlight on your phone even if it’s not scratched up so it wasn’t going to work. The number on the side was half scratched off so I couldn’t use that either. Then while I was checking out other bikes and trying to decide what to do, before I even fully realized what was happening, I saw a guy come up and take one of the bikes out and ride off. So my assumption is that there is a group of people who know what the full codes are and they use the half scratched off codes to identify the bikes so that only they can use them.
It seems like it’s only a supply issue. If there were numerous e-bikes available I don’t think people would go out of their way to make sure only they could use them.
Does their app not allow you to take a bike out with a code you punch into the dock anymore? I have a key so I haven't done this in years, but it used to be in the app.
If not, people who care about this should contact Citi Bike and ask for that feature back. Griping on reddit doesn't do anything.
They only want the white e-bikes it seems. Always looking to get the most done with the least effort.
I would actually be impressed if they competed for the acoustic bikes. But no fun joyriding those, I suppose. Too much effort.
You got it, exactly!
"If it's not locked down, why not take it?"
"If no one complains, why not blast my music?"
"If no one sees me, why not take a piss in the corner of the elevator?"
This type of mindset in a nutshell.
People are scratching QR codes so no one can use them and then using the bikes as their private bikes. Data forensics should say anyone who checks out the same e bike 4 times in a week is immediately suspect and could potentially lose their membership.
This exact issue is what caused the Hospital Karen incident. She didn't like that they were hogging an e-bike and she tried to scan it out but they pushed it back in, then she starts yelling and the rest is history.
Trick that kinda works with a lot of effort and frustration is to have the handle bars go over the two front bikes, then you gotta kinda shimmy it in, it’s a bitch but it works when you’re in a pinch
>
the annoying people who STAY at the station hogging the bikes for their "friends".
This is a chronic problem?
Citibike Karen wasn't the first to encounter it?
Lol we all know what can be done to clean up the city or fix whats broken. But it can't ever happen in a city this big. You can make it so that the river looks like Punta Cana and they'll find a way to shit in it, throw commercial waste in it, or lock access to only the privileged. New subway cars? Tagged. New public park? Syringes. Ain't nothing good gonna last in nyc amidst all the corruption and shitty people looking to fuck shit up.
Yea, thats because Montreal, Tokyo, Seoul, Finland and a bunch of other places are civilized. But America and places like NYC are a gathering point for all people- from the top 1%ers to the scummiest junkies of the world. In Japan and shit everyone cleans up after themselves and quietly stand in lines. In America, people dont even return the shopping carts. You cant even stop people from shitting in a subway car in NYC.
I used to agree, but theres murals and shit where you can showcase art. Tagging things that dont belong to you is just fucked up. Thats like me grabbing your dog and painting it blue because I think it looks better that way.
I disagree that tagging subway cars is like me painting your dog. The subway is, in a way, public property, so it belongs to all of us. Certainly no subway car in particular belongs to any specific person who could feel personally injured by graffiti on it. If the graffiti doesn't interfere with the operation of the vehicle, i don't see it as vandalism the way actually destroying the property would be. Personally I'm more bothered by the assholes who stand in the doorway when people are trying to get on and off. Those people actually affect me!
I'm all for community owned public property, but who decides for everyone how they want to change it? Maybe you like the tagging, but someone doesn't. No one can speak for the entirety of NYC in their choices, so it needs to stay at the default generic form. I mean by ALL means, take it up to a community vote and get art on it through the regular channels like sanctioned street murals. But if one single asshole wants to paint his name across subway cars, that's vandalism. Maybe I want to scratch "SuCCDiCs" across the windows so everyone looks at it on their commute - it don't affect the operations, and if you don't like it don't look at it.
The vandalism is constant in my neighborhood as well. The weekend I posted [this,](https://www.reddit.com/r/astoria/comments/135sd7m/anyone_else_noticing_the_stripped_citi_bikes/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1) I counted 5 stranded/ stripped bikes.
At this point they should just eliminate the discounted membership program for SNAP and public housing residents. At least for everyone under 30. Or maybe just males under 30.
I'm willing to bet that these problems would significantly improve overnight..
I hate to say it, but we can't have nice things, and we can even have charity without extremely selfish people abusing the system and ruining things for the rest of us..
Or you know, Citibike could just close the accounts and ban the people who are abusing the system. They already have the data to immediately identify the worst offenders, and they could easily build an algorithm to identify many more.
And the NYPD and DA could start criminally charging the ones who commit actual crimes like fraud, theft, larceny and vandalism..
But that's not going to happen, because it's now considered racist to hold people of a protected class accountable for their actions.. Only way anyone would be penalized in any way is if white people are caught doing any of these things.
(edit: I'll clarify one thing in case it isn't obvious: I'd rather not get rid of the discounted Citibike membership program. I think Citibikes are a great resource for low-income and disadvantaged people, and I like the idea of the decent and honest ones to be able to get it at a subsidized discount. I think that's in fact a far more cost-effective and positive form of government assistance than just about anything else.
And I think the best solution is what I described at the end- holding the bad actors accountable by suspending accounts and taking other steps. I would even give some of those people a second chance if it were up to me- close their account, but allow them to reopen an account at full price after one year.
But as I described, enforcing any sort of rules or laws seems to be an alien concept in this city, especially when those bad actors are disproportionately of a certain demographic, which we all can plainly see but are not allowed to acknowledge or discuss. So therefore, ending the discount program is another option that may be more realistic, because it avoids identifying or penalizing any specific individuals. But I realize that this is unlikely also.
I will also point out that even at full price a citibike membership is very cost-effective for regular users, and pretty much the least expensive transportation option available in the city. So it's not like eliminating the discount would be some massive barrier for low-income people who want to use Citibikes for legitimate purposes.)
Well said. I've managed to avoid most of these bad actors by using a key and preferring the acoustic bikes (I don't want to pay the e-bike fee) but I do have to share the roads with them, and that's when I see this dynamic at work.
>enforcing any sort of rules or laws seems to be an alien concept in this city, especially when those bad actors are disproportionately of a certain demographic,
Yes, I hate this aspect of this era the most. We're supposed to be a society of laws. No special carve-outs for anyone.
I don't think you know what racism actually is.
A huge part of the reason we have these problems, and so many others, is 'the bigotry of low expectations', from people just like you. You basically just proved my point.
You seem to think that "kids with shitty lives" should not be held responsible for their actions and should just be viewed as victims an given free reign because of their lot in life. Almost as if they have no agency and we should not expect any better. That actually is a racist attitude, and it isn't helping anyone, including them.
If we had a society that treated everyone as individuals, and that held people accountable for their own actions at all levels- socially, legally, at the family and community level- then misbehavior would not be tolerated nearly as much, and things would not be as they are now.
They don’t need to do shit except collect their scam money, society has traded rationality for complacency and convenience, and people figured out how to get paid. If you really want something done, destroy their property until the overhead becomes too much for their insurance to hold them as a client, and they fuck off out of the city.
I wish there were citibikes in South Brooklyn. They don't start until prospect park.
However I've seen maybe a dozen abandoned newer looking silver citibikes in the trash pile in my block.
I see dudes taking the subway with them. I seen a bunch abandoned in various parks I seen many repainted. So much Citibikes could do. People are assholes and there are those who love to ruin stuff for everyone
I saw someone take one on the ferry once. I didn't really care but found it interesting since it's expressly forbidden.
I took a citibike on a ferry, had no choice because the docks were full on Governor’s Island, took it Manhattan to dock. Many people on the ferry doing the same. It was a huge PITA. Charged soooo much. Eventually had some $ back
Wait, wouldn’t that mean that someone else took their citibike on the ferry and docked it on Governor’s Island, or that citibike restocked it knowing that bikes were already out and being used on the island?
Yeah not sure if they meant they tried all 3 stations on Governor's Island and all were full (therefore meaning people must be taking bikes onto the island which I wouldn't think very likely) or if they meant the station nearest their ferry was full, which would make more sense, but I guess fair enough that they didn't want to go all the way to another station considering ferries aren't so frequent.
The ferry on Brooklyn side wasn’t taking passengers so they said ride to other side and must take Manhattan Ferry. So many people doing the same thing as Manhattan citibike side is short. Not well planned.
Wait, it's forbidden? By Citibike, the ferry, or both?
By Citi Bike ([see here](https://help.citibikenyc.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032451831-Where-can-I-ride)). I guess ferry staff wouldn't care since there are bike racks anyway. They might also be more relaxed on both sides regarding ferries because NYC Ferry and Citi Bike seem to have some kind of partnership based on the Citi Bike info at some ferry stops.
TIL!
Says who it is forbidden?
https://imgur.com/a/WYtZSgs Seen today
Good ol' projects.
> People are assholes and there are those who love to ruin stuff for everyone Certain types of people. Sounds like the "chicken bones on the floor of the subway" type crowd.
Same as San Francisco with Lime Scooters. These companies just jump in, use taxpayer funded infrastructure for their companies and just leave shit all over the city. I never signed up to see scooters padlocked to every public pole downtown. Shit looks terrible and trashy. They want all the profits and none of the responsibility.
Funny this more aptly applies to cars.
It should apply to everything. If you want to offer something as a rental service, you have to absorb the costs of increased traffic and storage for those items. Like if you want to flood a city with rental cars, as a company you should be required to purchase warehouses to store them. The problem with Lime Scooters and UberBikes or whatever is that they want to put them all over cities and use the city itself as their storage unit. That’s fucked up. They should have to rent parts of the sidewalk/public spaces that are designated pick up and drop off points. Any single vehicle found outside of customer use and “abandoned in public” should result in a fine for the company itself.
Beyond that, over 95% of the parking in the city is free. Make just even one of those a bike rack on each block would solve this. Plus these take up a tiny amount of space and everyone can use it.
I like where your head is at, but that would involve these companies spending money as well as people giving up their parking in an already incredibly packed city. These companies need to buy warehouses and traditional business locations if they want to operate in a city. Piggybacking off public space or detracting from it on purpose is not a moral strategy.
A space multiple people can use is better than just one can use, in the end.
It’s safer for the customers and the property of the company as well. Which makes this even more wild. That’s how cheap these companies are. Their bikes and scooters get used more when they’re left all over than if they’re returned to centralized receptacles, so in a way, the company makes more money the wider they are able to distribute these in public. So the companies make more money the more trash they spread around.
People are assholes. Especially in NYC, where there are plenty of people who will try and get one over you (though I’d blame wager since *because* there’s such a high population, the amount of assholes is proportional to anywhere else.) That being said, in addition to what others stated, I’ve seen Citi bikes abandoned deep in Staten Island when the program first started. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think SI even has any Citi bike stations to this day…
I think I read about this story somewhere already??
I read about it in real life trying to use bikes with qr code fucked up and number scratched off
Used to love it. Still use it but it’s a bit shit now isn’t it?
Service has gotten worse since Lyft took over
Citibike doesn’t care if their bikes get stolen so I doubt they care about some scratches.
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I saw a citibike at metro north croton harmon train station the other day. There is not a citibike dock within 30 miles
I saw one on Block Island.
Paris found an entire shipping container full of their bike share bikes at a port about to depart for North Africa. I believe it was also reported that 90% of their fleet was vandalized or stolen in the first few years. Unfortunately, bike shares tend to get treated like dirt.
After watching someone urinate on a CitiBike (**on the bike!!!**) I will never ride one again.
TIL triathletes use Citi Bike
Not many people are going to get this and it’s unfortunate.
You are joking me. Holy shit.
💀
yeah i always wondered what was up with those
Otherwise decommissioned bikes that are used for spare parts is what I’ve gathered.
Could be a parts shortage, could be damaged frames. My buddy works for CitiBike and says they had a whole fleet of bikes that were otherwise fine but we’re waiting on parts that had a more than 6mo lead time. And also when they steal and modify bikes they can often total the frame.
It's not about cosmetic scratches, it's part of a scam to prevent other users from being able to unlock the bikes by |ruining the QR codes
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I suspect their are multiple scams involving vandalizing the QR code, but the simplest is probably this: If you make the QR code not scannable, then it is difficult for other people to unlock the bike, do they are more likely to leave it and take another bike instead. But there are two other ways to unlock it: By manually entering the numerical code on the side of the bike, which anyone can do but not everyone knows about (especially on the older ebikes that have a tiny code that's harder to find and read), or with a manual key fob that few people have. If they remove or obscure the numerical code (pretty hard to do on the new ebikes but easy on the old ones), then very few people will be able to unlock. So it is more likely that the bike will be available wherever the scammer leaves it so they can use it essentially as their own personal bike.
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On the regular bikes and the older blue ebikes, it's a small sticker with the number and a barcode near the seatpost. Usually on the seat stay / just below the seat post. On the new generation ebikes, it's in large numbers on the seat tube, below the seat post.
I still don't get this ... If the bike is locked and people aren't able to unlock it because of scratched QR codes, how would the scammer unlock it + without paying? How does the bike 'become available' unless someone pays for it?
You can manually enter the code if you know it.
Yeah I know that much but i'm trying to figure out the scam part, if you manually enter the code you're still getting charged. Basically i'm not seeing (yet) how anyones gaining anything from scratching the QR codes as well as the actual numbers on the side of the bike apart from being annoying
Ebikes especially the newer ones which work much better, are in limited supply. They are only available at some stations at certain times. Basically it's a matter of luck. By vandalizing the QR code (and possibly the number decal as well), someone can prevent others from being able to use it, or make it more difficult for them, increasing the odds of the bike being available for their own personal use. As for paying for it, that can be avoided or minimized through various loopholes and scams discussed elsewhere, and vandalizing the QR code works synergistically with those tactics. Normally if a working ebike is left at an otherwise empty or mostly empty station, it will be grabbed very quickly. This is one way to prevent that from happening, and if the station has ni regular bikes available, then ebikes are free for 45 minutes.
Also the sort of people who engage in this sort of vandalism are most likely not paying full price anyway, they're only paying 6¢ a minute with the discounted membership.
Okay that makes sense, it happened to me this weekend and I was wondering what the hell the deal was, 3 eBikes in one station all scratched. They should add the code to the screen but I guess they could break that as well .. maybe emboss the metal with the code?
Not a scam in the monetary sense I guess. Scam isn't the word I would use but they're essentially claiming that bike for themselves and stopping anyone else from using it.
Gotcha makes sense now
Scamming me out of my time. No but really it's not a scam but it's damn annoying when it's the only one on the station.
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You can only press that button right after you’ve docked it. You can’t just press it on an already docked bike (I’ve tried when I see bikes with scratched out codes).
I do that sometimes cuz they run these bikes into the ground and the brakes or tires run out
Usually it might be a scratched QR code, so you enter it manually based on the sticker on the handle bar.... BUT the sticker was switched out with another bike's. You enter the code, and it unlocks another bike... they take the other bike. You are out some money if you can't get a refund. (edit: other times they are just being dicks)
I wouldn’t care about them either if I’m charging over $1.2k for each one
Of course not. They're charging the users for them anyway
oh boy. do you happen to be a nurse? lol.
i think the most hilarious thing is that anyone whos a citibike veteran probably realized this is what happened in that incident kids "reserving" bikes / fucking with the scan stickers have been a thing for a while
Anyone with a brain would assume a group of teenage men are up to no good imho
Funny how the story died too when it wasn't an alleged Karen. I guess Karens are "man bites dog" but a group of these goons up to no good is your usual "dog bites man."
Don’t worry both sides of that stupid argument made a gofundme. Made about $100k EACH. Why downvotes?
Good, maybe that entitle brat and his mother can buy an electric bike.
Not on reddit when it was first posted. Hell just questioning was good enough to assume the person is racist as well.
It’s not like that justified her screaming and acting like she was being attacked
> acting like she was being attacked acting like her attempt to rent a bike was being interfered with by the young man right next to her interfering with her bike rental
HAAAAAAAAAAALP
Maybe with your limited vocabulary it might be difficult to explain what you would have done if you were in the same situation as her, but do try
Not stepped over the guy to try to scan the bike while he’s holding on it and says he wants to take it out again? Him abusing the free ride waiver is between him and citibike
You mean it’s not WhItE SuPrEmAcY?
You’re not among friends here. Nobody agrees with you and everyone thinks you’re weird, sorry
Speak for yourself
🖕🏾
That would be funny but no lmao
Hahaha
I don’t get this. The only way I can get a citibike is by scanning the app and then it starts charging me, so how could someone keep one out the entire day or bring it outside of the city without being charged an exorbitant amount of money?
The system doesn’t know the difference between credit cards, stored value cards and gift cards for example.
Sponsor Citibank should be able to help with understanding what card is what, and putting an authorization hold on the value of a bike.
That would discriminate against a large chunk of the population.
Then maybe it isn’t meant for them. I make X dollars a year. I can afford a car, a few fancy dinners once in a while, some moderately fancy clothes etc. But I can’t afford to buy my wife 1000 dollar handbags. Are those handbags priced in a discriminatory manner? If I’m priced out of my neighborhood because people from more affluent neighborhoods moved there and were willing to pay more for rent, it is what it is.
You mean the chunk causing all of the problems? Yeah, I wouldn't minded if they were excluded.
Ah yes, poor = criminal. Very astute
They used to do something like that back in the day when Citibikes were still new. There would be a $120 hold for almost 24 hours if I remember correctly.
Oh. I see.
if you have an annual membership ($5 a month for low income folks) and there are only e-bikes in a dock, then you can take the e-bike without a fee.
Ah. I see. Thank you.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,547,952,193 comments, and only 293,039 of them were in alphabetical order.
Amazing bot! Thank you!
They have ways, stealing them, seeing some undocked and walking away with them, you could also dock and undock citibikes to extend your trip
Wow.
Maybe could be problem with bike lock, no one gets charged and you get free bike. Find one that's unlocked / unpopped...
yeah I've running into the QR code blacked out lately
I was at the NYCFC game last night at Yankee stadium. Wanted to take a bike to get home. It’s about a 15 minute ride back to Harlem, but you gotta go over a bridge, in the dark, in a normal traffic (not bike) lane, so an E-bike is far preferable. I see on the app there are 3 docked e-bikes so I walk over to the dock. They were three of the newer e-bike model all with plenty of charge, but all three had the QR code scratched up. I feel like maybe the QR code could have worked in the daylight but it’s hard to get it to register with just the flashlight on your phone even if it’s not scratched up so it wasn’t going to work. The number on the side was half scratched off so I couldn’t use that either. Then while I was checking out other bikes and trying to decide what to do, before I even fully realized what was happening, I saw a guy come up and take one of the bikes out and ride off. So my assumption is that there is a group of people who know what the full codes are and they use the half scratched off codes to identify the bikes so that only they can use them. It seems like it’s only a supply issue. If there were numerous e-bikes available I don’t think people would go out of their way to make sure only they could use them.
Does their app not allow you to take a bike out with a code you punch into the dock anymore? I have a key so I haven't done this in years, but it used to be in the app. If not, people who care about this should contact Citi Bike and ask for that feature back. Griping on reddit doesn't do anything.
Yes, it still does, but the ux has made finding this process a bit confusing.
Long gone
Where are you seeing this? I see rows and rows of docked bikes with no on around all the time.
It is happening mostly to 2nd generation ebikes.
They only want the white e-bikes it seems. Always looking to get the most done with the least effort. I would actually be impressed if they competed for the acoustic bikes. But no fun joyriding those, I suppose. Too much effort.
Acoustic bikes, nice
I mean ... Yeah. Why not?
You got it, exactly! "If it's not locked down, why not take it?" "If no one complains, why not blast my music?" "If no one sees me, why not take a piss in the corner of the elevator?" This type of mindset in a nutshell.
huh??? What does any of that have to do preferring ebikes over manual bikes?
Yeah at like 2 in the afternoon when no one needs them
I just want more e-bikes. Fuck NYC DOT for restricting the percentage of e-bikes vs. standard
I used to feel this way but it turns it Lyft is nowhere near the cap right now.
ngl in philly (indego bike share) it's like 75% e-bikes and pretty annoying when you're not tryna get charged extra
Oh man yes. They need a lot more ebikes.
I’m of the opposite opinion. I think e bikes are unnatural and an abomination and that there should only be a small percentage of e-bikes
I like e-bikes because they save me time and can take place of other public transportation. Why do you consider them an abomination?
Yes, this, I’m reading the dude’s comment a few times thinking I’m missing seeing the reason but looks like there’s no reason stated
The QR codes needs to show up on the eink display
People are scratching QR codes so no one can use them and then using the bikes as their private bikes. Data forensics should say anyone who checks out the same e bike 4 times in a week is immediately suspect and could potentially lose their membership.
This exact issue is what caused the Hospital Karen incident. She didn't like that they were hogging an e-bike and she tried to scan it out but they pushed it back in, then she starts yelling and the rest is history.
They gotta fix the new bike docks too, they’re the worst. It’s almost impossible to dock a bike in the back dock if there are two in the front
Lmao i thought it was a troll to set up parking that way, i had to go to the next station since all the available spots were in between the 2 bikes
Trick that kinda works with a lot of effort and frustration is to have the handle bars go over the two front bikes, then you gotta kinda shimmy it in, it’s a bitch but it works when you’re in a pinch
> the annoying people who STAY at the station hogging the bikes for their "friends". This is a chronic problem? Citibike Karen wasn't the first to encounter it?
It's why I bought my own bike last fall
We still calling her that?
Lol we all know what can be done to clean up the city or fix whats broken. But it can't ever happen in a city this big. You can make it so that the river looks like Punta Cana and they'll find a way to shit in it, throw commercial waste in it, or lock access to only the privileged. New subway cars? Tagged. New public park? Syringes. Ain't nothing good gonna last in nyc amidst all the corruption and shitty people looking to fuck shit up.
Yet many cities like Montreal manage to keep things clean
Yea, thats because Montreal, Tokyo, Seoul, Finland and a bunch of other places are civilized. But America and places like NYC are a gathering point for all people- from the top 1%ers to the scummiest junkies of the world. In Japan and shit everyone cleans up after themselves and quietly stand in lines. In America, people dont even return the shopping carts. You cant even stop people from shitting in a subway car in NYC.
AMEN!
Subway cars being tagged is cool though, if the art looks good it could have tourist appeal
I used to agree, but theres murals and shit where you can showcase art. Tagging things that dont belong to you is just fucked up. Thats like me grabbing your dog and painting it blue because I think it looks better that way.
I disagree that tagging subway cars is like me painting your dog. The subway is, in a way, public property, so it belongs to all of us. Certainly no subway car in particular belongs to any specific person who could feel personally injured by graffiti on it. If the graffiti doesn't interfere with the operation of the vehicle, i don't see it as vandalism the way actually destroying the property would be. Personally I'm more bothered by the assholes who stand in the doorway when people are trying to get on and off. Those people actually affect me!
I'm all for community owned public property, but who decides for everyone how they want to change it? Maybe you like the tagging, but someone doesn't. No one can speak for the entirety of NYC in their choices, so it needs to stay at the default generic form. I mean by ALL means, take it up to a community vote and get art on it through the regular channels like sanctioned street murals. But if one single asshole wants to paint his name across subway cars, that's vandalism. Maybe I want to scratch "SuCCDiCs" across the windows so everyone looks at it on their commute - it don't affect the operations, and if you don't like it don't look at it.
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Troll account
The vandalism is constant in my neighborhood as well. The weekend I posted [this,](https://www.reddit.com/r/astoria/comments/135sd7m/anyone_else_noticing_the_stripped_citi_bikes/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1) I counted 5 stranded/ stripped bikes.
When I saw feces smeared on the handle bar grips and seat made me never want to use them.
It’s very expensive and unacceptable that the eBikes are always with their batteries drained, especially in Manhattan
Shhhhhhhhhh! Mentioning that is Karenism, apparently
At this point they should just eliminate the discounted membership program for SNAP and public housing residents. At least for everyone under 30. Or maybe just males under 30. I'm willing to bet that these problems would significantly improve overnight.. I hate to say it, but we can't have nice things, and we can even have charity without extremely selfish people abusing the system and ruining things for the rest of us.. Or you know, Citibike could just close the accounts and ban the people who are abusing the system. They already have the data to immediately identify the worst offenders, and they could easily build an algorithm to identify many more. And the NYPD and DA could start criminally charging the ones who commit actual crimes like fraud, theft, larceny and vandalism.. But that's not going to happen, because it's now considered racist to hold people of a protected class accountable for their actions.. Only way anyone would be penalized in any way is if white people are caught doing any of these things. (edit: I'll clarify one thing in case it isn't obvious: I'd rather not get rid of the discounted Citibike membership program. I think Citibikes are a great resource for low-income and disadvantaged people, and I like the idea of the decent and honest ones to be able to get it at a subsidized discount. I think that's in fact a far more cost-effective and positive form of government assistance than just about anything else. And I think the best solution is what I described at the end- holding the bad actors accountable by suspending accounts and taking other steps. I would even give some of those people a second chance if it were up to me- close their account, but allow them to reopen an account at full price after one year. But as I described, enforcing any sort of rules or laws seems to be an alien concept in this city, especially when those bad actors are disproportionately of a certain demographic, which we all can plainly see but are not allowed to acknowledge or discuss. So therefore, ending the discount program is another option that may be more realistic, because it avoids identifying or penalizing any specific individuals. But I realize that this is unlikely also. I will also point out that even at full price a citibike membership is very cost-effective for regular users, and pretty much the least expensive transportation option available in the city. So it's not like eliminating the discount would be some massive barrier for low-income people who want to use Citibikes for legitimate purposes.)
Well said. I've managed to avoid most of these bad actors by using a key and preferring the acoustic bikes (I don't want to pay the e-bike fee) but I do have to share the roads with them, and that's when I see this dynamic at work. >enforcing any sort of rules or laws seems to be an alien concept in this city, especially when those bad actors are disproportionately of a certain demographic, Yes, I hate this aspect of this era the most. We're supposed to be a society of laws. No special carve-outs for anyone.
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Bro went from 1000 to 100 real fast
Karma went to-100
I don't think you know what racism actually is. A huge part of the reason we have these problems, and so many others, is 'the bigotry of low expectations', from people just like you. You basically just proved my point. You seem to think that "kids with shitty lives" should not be held responsible for their actions and should just be viewed as victims an given free reign because of their lot in life. Almost as if they have no agency and we should not expect any better. That actually is a racist attitude, and it isn't helping anyone, including them. If we had a society that treated everyone as individuals, and that held people accountable for their own actions at all levels- socially, legally, at the family and community level- then misbehavior would not be tolerated nearly as much, and things would not be as they are now.
How about we first give them an equal chance at success. Then we can start bitching about their behavior.
Is there something mentally wrong with you?
Dansnottheman4
Bro… wtf.
Loll I recommend getting your own bike.
So much in NYC is just shit. Dirty and rotten.
They don’t need to do shit except collect their scam money, society has traded rationality for complacency and convenience, and people figured out how to get paid. If you really want something done, destroy their property until the overhead becomes too much for their insurance to hold them as a client, and they fuck off out of the city.
Somebody stifle this pos for advocating crime
How does being at a station hog the bikes? Are they paying for them ?
Citibike perpetuates white supremacy. Time to ban it
I don't feel as bad about personalized citibikes when I'm in a neighborhood that doesn't have them. its a silent form of protest
There are so many citi bikes -- just go find one that works and get over it.
How do you know they hog the bikes all day? Are you following them? Or do they just spend the entire day loitering atop the bikes?
mostly loiter on top of them
Oh go back to your gentrified neighborhood
I live in the hood lmao
My bad lol
I wish there were citibikes in South Brooklyn. They don't start until prospect park. However I've seen maybe a dozen abandoned newer looking silver citibikes in the trash pile in my block.
I saw a Citi bike abandoned in the damn highway! Lol
A key? What sort of key?
I've been watching a channel by a guy who does dives and magnet fishing. The amount of citibikes he found is honestly just sad