New Yorkers are Riding Citi Bikes at a Record-Setting Rate

Citi Bikes in New York City have been getting a lot of use this month. Last week, Citi Bike tweeted that they boasted their highest ridership week of all time, with 910,106 Citi Bike rides taken between September 13 and 19. But that's not all: the daily ridership record has also been broken three times this month, proving that the shift into Fall weather might truly be the best time for bike riding.

September 14—just an average Wednesday—saw 138,727 rides, beating out the record-setting 138,372 rides taken on September 8. The weather was nice, mostly sunny and highs in the mid-80s, but nothing out of the ordinary. But the slightly cooler temps (or at least, a break in the heat) might mean it's easier for people to commute by bike in their normal work clothes with less fear of sweat stains by the time they get to the office.

The high number of rides seems to be slowly creeping up, month after month. In total, Citi Bike noted that July saw 3.5 million rides while August set a new record at 3.7 million, and September is on track to outpace that.

Of course, the high volume of riders means an equally high volume of complaints: Regular riders were tweeting that they were unable to access bikes at the normal hotspots like Penn Station. To combat some of the busyness, Citi Bike and the company's owner, Lyft, have been providing pop-up 'valet service' at certain busy spots, like Hoboken Terminal – River Street station, to help with the influx of bikes. Rather than waiting for a bike dock to open up to return a bike, riders are able to have bikes checked in by staff, making it easier for riders to both return and rent bikes from cycling hotspots.

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