New York rolled out the nation’s largest bike-sharing program last week. Called Citi Bike, it encountered some early bugs and gripes. Many of the complaints sounded specious. Cyclists said the press was stirring up trouble. When in doubt, blame the New York Post (pictured at right).

New York’s experience is worth paying attention to because Los Angeles and some neighboring cities are supposed to be getting their own bike-sharing programs this year.

The L.A. City Council has approved the permitting process for an Orange County-based company named Bike Nation to create a privately financed network of 400 rental stations with 4,000 three-speed bicycles available for pay-per-ride use in downtown Los Angeles, Westwood, Venice and Hollywood. Long Beach has plans in the works too, also involving Bike Nation. Anaheim began a pilot program last year.

When exactly L.A. and Long Beach bike sharing will begin is unclear. It was supposed to be April, but that came and went. Bike Nation founder Navin Narang hasn’t returned an editorial writer’s phone calls seeking specifics.

Many U.S. cities have bike sharing, and it would be a natural next step in Southern California cities’ push to be more bicycle-friendly. If the concept can make it in New York, it can make it here.

L.A.-area officials should be watching what happens in New York to see how to make bike sharing work better here. More clarity about when it’s going to begin would, itself, be a good start.