It is the kind of news the city’s Transportation Department would love to report someday: a New York City bike-share program that attracts all types of cyclists, from budding entrepreneurs to university professors, and does not lead to stolen bikes or injured riders.

But the results of a small pilot program are not the city’s to claim.

For the past two years, New York University has had a 30-bike pilot program with 10 locations for its students and employees. The program is but a fraction of the 600 rental stations and 10,000 bikes that will make up the city’s ambitious program, which is to begin this summer. But N.Y.U.’s program does suggest that bike-share programs can work in New York City.

On Wednesday, the university added 45 bicycles and made the program permanent.

“The demand was very quickly outstripping supply,” said Jeremy Friedman, the manager of sustainability initiatives for the university, who has been working with students to organize the bike-share program.

The program started in 2008, when Julia Ehrman, a student and cycling fan, sought to repair old and used bicycles for students to ride. But the cost was too high, so Ms. Ehrman applied with a friend for a grant from the university, and they were given $13,000.