Pending approval from the DOT, Citi Bike could be just days away from inking a deal with REQX Ventures, which would seize control of Alta Bicycle Share and finally enable the program to expand beyond its current limited radius.

Though Citi Bike has refused to comment on the potential partnership, details are eking out slowly. The Times reports today that if the deal is completed, it will likely raise annual membership prices to $155—even higher than the previously reported (feared?) $140, and certainly higher than the current $95 bargain. Even at $95, more than 9,000 members opted not to renew their memberships this year, a decline that was almost certainly due in part to the technical difficulties the program has faced, with new complaints of faulty docks arising each day.

And while expansion to upper Manhattan, Brooklyn and the long-awaited introduction to Queens would be in the cards, installation of new racks wouldn't begin until next year, and wouldn't be completed—the ultimate goal is to double the number of bike on the road to 12,000—until 2017. 2017? Won't all of NYC be under water by then, anyway?



