Our Challenge to You

Many Citi Bike riders have experienced the situation where they have arrived at a station and found either no bikes available, or no free docks to return their bike – colorful terms (we won't tell you here!) have even been coined for each of these conditions. To help Citi Bikers have a great experience during our busiest times of year, we are increasing our rebalancing activities; however, there is an additional, data-driven way to help our customers achieve the best possible experience.

What if there was a product that could anticipate bike and dock availability, much as Google Maps is able to forecast traffic for any day and time of the week? One year in, we’ve found that Citi Bike has fairly predictable ridership patterns. For example, some stations in the East Village empty out in the morning, while many in Midtown fill up around the same time – but, in many cases, an available bike or dock is just a short walk away.

