STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The bright, red bikes that have blanketed the borough’s North Shore for over a year may soon be gone.

After failing to reach a contract agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOT), JUMP bikes will be removed from Staten Island streets as of Sept. 4, according to the bike share company.

“We wanted to work with the DOT to expand, but unfortunately they offered a take it or leave it contract and refused to negotiate," said Harry Hartfield, spokesman for Uber, JUMP’s parent company.

According to Uber, the company clearly emphasized its willingness and desire to put bikes in all five boroughs, but DOT did not want the company to interfere with existing Citi Bike service.

“Despite the fact that JUMP offers dependable electric bikes, and is ready to serve New Yorkers in all five boroughs, the DOT decided to protect a monopoly for a bike program that continues to have serious issues and had to remove its e-bikes from the street,” Hartfield continued.

Earlier this year, Citi Bike pulled their fleet of 1,000 pedal-assist bikes from city streets due to malfunctioning brakes.

“We’re disappointed but remain open to partnering with the city on a bike-share program that is safe and available for all New Yorkers,” Hartfield concluded.

The DOT claims it has been in contact with the company and is optimistic talks will resume.

“DOT has been in communication with JUMP and is optimistic negotiations will resume,” according to a DOT spokesperson.

Lyft, the operator of Citi Bike, pointed to the growing popularity of its bikes, noting that Citi Bike has broken its all-time daily ridership record seven times this summer, but deferred comment on ongoing contract negotiations to the DOT.

FUTURE OF STATEN ISLAND BIKE SHARE?

The news of JUMP’s potential departure leaves the future of Staten Island’s bike share program up in the air.

In April, DOT commissioner Polly Trottenberg announced the release of a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) seeking to expand the program from exclusively operating on the North Shore to encompassing the entire borough.

In June, the department began presenting expansion plans to Community Boards 2 and 3, representing Mid-Island and the South Shore, respectively, to inform residents about how bike share works and what they can expect from the expanded program in the coming months.

At a Traffic and Transportation Committee meeting for Community Board 2 on Monday, June 3, the DOT told community members that if all went as scheduled, the boroughwide dockless bike share program was expected to be in place by the end of July, according to Jerry Ruggiero, chairman of the Community Board 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee.

At the time, the DOT would not explicitly confirm that the system would be in place by the end of July, though the RFEI from April stated that the approximate commencement of the project was scheduled for July.

However, the RFEI did state that the timeline “is merely an estimation and may be subject, at the sole discretion of NYCDOT, to change for any reason or no reason whatsoever.”

Now, as we approach September, it remains unclear if and when Staten Island’s bike share program will be expanded, and who will operate it.

Lime, the other bike share company that has been operating on Staten Island since July of last year, could not provide additional information regarding their current and future standing in the borough.

“As a participant in the City’s open RFEI process, it would be inappropriate for Lime to comment at this time," according to a Lime spokesman.

ABOUT THE EXISTING PROGRAM

Last summer, during City Hall in Your Borough, dockless bikes from two different companies — JUMP and Lime — arrived on Staten Island’s North Shore.

Unlike the Citi Bike program, where riders are required to rent and return bikes at stations around the city, the dockless bike share program does not have physical dock stations, allowing riders to park almost anywhere within the area limits.

“In last year’s pilot, we learned that Staten Islanders love bike share, and we often found that their rides sometimes drifted outside of the North Shore boundaries we set last summer,” Trottenberg said in April.

“So now that riders have voted with their feet, we want to have the entire Island available to them. Not only do we know that bike share is offering a great new travel option of thousands, we also think it has helped contribute to Vision Zero, as the last year with hundreds of Lime and JUMP bikes on the street has also been the safest year ever on the borough’s streets,” she added.

The initial pilot on Staten Island’s North Shore launched on July 26, 2018, with 400 bikes (200 JUMP, 200 Lime) providing over 68,000 trips as of April 2019.

The pilot program received three extensions, in November 2018, February 2019 and May 2019, to analyze usage, rider satisfaction, safety, sidewalk blocking, durability of bikes and data compliance.

The DOT received overwhelmingly positive feedback from Staten Island residents regarding the bike share program, with 74 percent of respondents deeming dockless bike share “a great service for the city.”