Local pols are demanding CitiBike clean up its act — after parent company Lyft took nearly three weeks to shovel all of its Big Apple bike stations out of mountains of snow.
The cleanup chaos came just weeks after the service hiked prices for the fifth straight year – demanding 41% higher membership rates and at least 240% more from casual cyclists.
“Every time you turn around as a CitiBike member, the cost has gone up yet again, and we do not see the improvements in service,” City Council Member Lincoln Restler (D-Brooklyn) told The Post.
Restler — who has floated legislation to cap CitiBike fares to match those of subway rides — is now urging the city Department of Transportation to create a mandatory snow-cleaning deadline for future winter storms.
“New York City has far and away the most expensive bike share program in the world, and yet, Lyft does far too little to clean up the garbage around CitiBikes and remove the snow and ice that builds up after a storm,” he said.
“Homeowners and small businesses are responsible to clear the sidewalk in front of their storefront or home in a matter of hours: Lyft should be cleaning up the areas around CitiBike docks in days, not weeks.”
Cyclists were fuming in the aftermath of Winter Storm Fern, which dumped over a foot of snow on the city, telling The Post it was far too difficult to access a bike, with ice and flakes covering docking stations.
In a Feb. 5 blog post — more than 10 days after the snowfall– CitiBike reported that its stations were “plowed over after we’ve cleared them” and even started instructing its workers to use pickaxes and sledgehammers to free the bikes.
Snow was declared removed from all stations at the “end of last week,” a spokesperson said.
“Both during and after the snowstorm, Lyft worked closely with NYC DOT to provide snow removal across the service area. We continue to look for ways to better serve our riders,” the rep said.
But Council Member Shahana Hanif, who represents Brooklyn, posted a picture of a snowed-in CitiBike in Kensington to X just on Tuesday, urging the bike-sharing service to revisit the icy mess.
“Hey @CitiBikeNYC: how much longer are my constituents supposed to wait for this nasty snow buildup to be cleared? And beyond the snow, this Kensington station by Denny’s is consistently filthy. What’s the plan?” she said.
A representative for Lyft defended the lengthy snow removal process across its more than 2,200 bike docking stations following “one of the most challenging winter storms the city has seen in years.”
“Working closely with our city partners, Citi Bike shut down the system on January 25th and subsequently coordinated a comprehensive snow management plan,” Patrick Knoth, general manager of CitiBike, said in a statement.
“Since the system resumed operations on January 26th, snow removal teams augmented by additional crews have been working around the clock.”
Under a contract with the city, Lyft is responsible for maintaining and cleaning the stations – and the “DOT has strict performance standards regarding the maintenance and cleanliness of Citi Bike stations, bicycles, and the surrounding area,” according to the city’s bike-share program website.
Each station is cleaned at least twice per month, and litter is “removed frequently. DOT monitors each station to maintain those strict performance standards.”
The DOT did not comment on the weeks-long cleanup and whether Lyft met the agency’s “strict” standards.
“We’ve been in constant communication with Lyft to monitor their response efforts and reinforce the need to maintain an appropriate level of service for New Yorkers,” a DOT rep said. “We look forward to continued conversations with Lyft on how it can provide the best possible service during major snow storms.”
But Restler demanded the agency do more to hold the bike share service accountable.
“We all pay a premium as CitiBike members to use this essential service, and the team at Lyft should do more to maintain it,” he said.
“We do not see the cleanliness or the snow removal that the riders should expect in order to just be able to use the bikes,” he added. “We deserve better.”
