Guess Which NYC Neighborhood Has Most Requests For Citi Bike Station? The Answer Is Roosevelt Island, But Dep't Of Transportation Has No Plans To Expand Here
The NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and Citi Bike announced earlier this week an expansion of the bike sharing program to more NYC neighborhoods...and:
... Roosevelt Island is not included in the Citi Bike neighborhood expansion for phase 11 or phase 111 Potential Expansion.
Will this recent report from Columbia Journalism School's The Brooklyn Link help persuade the powers-that-be to locate Cit Bike stations on Roosevelt Island:
... Following the recent announcement of the phase II expansion of Citi Bike into parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, The Brooklyn Ink analyzed the data collected by the online portal to understand where these requests were coming from and where people said they wanted new Citi Bike stations. From 2012 to November 2014, around 36,000 people have participated in the suggestion process and have created a database of around 8,500 suggested points on the map.
In terms of neighborhoods, the highest demand comes from Roosevelt Island.
Exactly 1,937 requests came from Roosevelt and 189 of those requests actually supported one single location near West Road and the Roosevelt Island F train station. Both figures were the highest of their kind in the analysis. A lot of these requests come from people living in the luxury Octagon Park Apartments. Comments also suggest that the heavy reliance the neighborhood has on the bus system is another factor that drives the demand for Citi Bike.
The City Department of Transportation, in a statement to The Brooklyn Ink, said that at this stage there are no plans to expand Citi Bike into Roosevelt Island....
Image From NYC Bike Share
Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Charlene Indelicato has previously stated safety objections to Citi Bike stations on Roosevelt Island at this time. According to Ms Indelicato:
... the Island's infrastructure is not currently ready to handle a large increase in cyclist traffic. Before bike sharing can come to the Island, a master plan for the implementation of bike paths and traffic infrastructure that can accommodate cyclists, pedestrians and motorists in our community needs to be designed and implemented. We plan to work with private entities such as Cornell Tech in order to create this plan and look forward to putting an innovative, inclusive strategy in place.Roosevelt Island's NYC Council Member Ben Kallos has expressed support for Roosevelt Island Citi Bike stations saying:
When it comes to bike sharing in Queens, RIOC's focus is primarily trained on preparing Roosevelt Island for a possible future station. Therefore, we will not be advocating for a docking station near the entrance of the Roosevelt Island Bridge at 36th Avenue at this time.
1,000 new bikes will come into use next year; 7,000 by 2017. The Council Member hopes to get as many CitiBike stations as possible into our district and to Roosevelt Island in the upcoming years....and tweets:
Standing in support of CitiBike expansion! @bradlander @HelenRosenthal @RitchieTorres pic.twitter.com/MqRzd5c7SR
— Ben Kallos (@BenKallos) November 20, 2014When will that support bring Citi Bike to Roosevelt Island?
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