In the USA/NYC Citibank is the sponsor of the program. Critics of the program involve ma & pa bike rental places as well as delivery/loading people who are claiming they block their limited area where some of the racks are placed. I guess this affects parking spaces as well. Only time will tell. NYC has tried other programs unsuccessfully before-others with minimal to high success rates-we'll see. Even the newly appropriated bike lanes are a problem for bikers-esp. in midtown where pedestrians use these lanes to avoid the crunch of the sidewalks; making the bikers impossible to stay on course.
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NBC NEWS ONLINE:
The privately funded Citi Bike bike-share program is launching with 6,000 bikes at 330 docking stations in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn
NYC's Bike Share, Largest in Nation, Launches
New York City's long-awaited and much-hyped bicycle-sharing program has finally begun.
An annual membership costs $95 and a day pass will cost $9.95.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan are set to christen the beginning of bike-sharing at a docking station near the Brooklyn Bridge Monday morning.
The privately funded Citi Bike bike-share program is launching with
6,000 bikes at 330 docking stations in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.
Officials hope to expand to 10,000 bikes and 600 docking stations in
Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. (what???good???bad???)
On Friday, the blue bicycles started appearing in docking stations throughout the city.
More than 9,000 people who have signed up for the program will be able to ride starting Monday. The bikes will be available to anyone starting June 2.
On Friday, the blue bicycles started appearing in docking stations throughout the city.
More than 9,000 people who have signed up for the program will be able to ride starting Monday. The bikes will be available to anyone starting June 2.
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As of May 2011 there were around 375 bike-sharing programs around the world (CHINA having the largest, I believe)
I FIRST SAW THIS IN PARIS 
IT'S A BIT DIFFERENT:
IT'S A BIT DIFFERENT:Bicycle sharing systems can be divided into two general categories: "Community Bike programs" organized mostly by local community groups or non-profit organizations; and "Smart Bike programs" implemented by government agencies, sometimes in a public-private partnership.
The central concept of these systems is to provide free or affordable access to bicycles for short-distance trips in an urban area as an alternative to public transport or private vehicles, thereby reducing traffic congestion, noise, and air pollution.
Bicycle sharing systems have also been cited as a way to solve the "last mile" problem and connect users to public transit networks.
Public bike sharing programmes address some of the primary disadvantages to bicycle ownership, including loss from theft or vandalism, lack of parking or storage, and maintenance requirements.
However, by limiting the number of places where bicycles can be rented or returned, the service itself essentially becomes a form of public transit, and has therefore been criticized as less convenient than a privately owned bicycle capable of point-to-point transport.
Government-run bicycle sharing programs can also prove costly to the public unless subsidized by commercial interests, typically in the form of advertising on stations or the bicycles themselves.
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ALREADY??????????????????????????????????????WTF??????????????
LOLOLOL--UPDATE :(MAY 30, 2013):
A 24-year-old Bronx man tried to make off with an improperly docked Citi Bike early Thursday morning, only to be promptly stopped by cops, the Daily News reports. Anthony Jones allegedly tried to filch one of the pricey blue behemoths from the W. 40th Street station in Midtown after a legit renter failed to securely anchor the bike in place.
The News reports that Jones was halted by nearby police, and faces charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and perhaps most damningly, failure to pay the bike’s rental fee, the tabloid reports.
What a laudable display of NYPD vigilance! Could it possibly be because Citi Bike thefts are categorized as grand larcenies, meaning each bike that goes missing drives up the department's meticulously managed crime statistics? Quite possibly.
“If one of them gets stolen or vandalized now we’ll get stuck with a number for the grand larceny,” a Manhattan cop told the Post. “You know it’s going to happen. They’re going to get stolen or vandalized.”
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