NYC’s dockless bike share pilot debuts on Staten Island

Following the launch of the city’s dockless bike share program in the Rockaways earlier this month, a new set of dockless bikes are now available on Staten Island’s North Shore. The pilot program on Staten Island will stretch from the North Shore down the east shore to South Beach.

The Staten Island pilot will be run by Jump and Lime; the latter will have 200 regular pedal bikes for rent starting today. After the rule change for pedal-assist bikes goes into effect on Saturday, Lime may swap some of their regular bikes for pedal-assist ones. Jump will debut an additional 100 pedal-assist bikes on Saturday.

Lime’s regular bikes will rent at $1 per 30-minute period, and Jump’s bikes will ask $2 for a 30-minute period. If Lime introduces pedal-assist bikes, those will cost $1 to unlock and 15 cents per minute after that. Jump and Lime are also offering discounted rates to public housing residents.

Users need only to download either of the apps on their phones, and then use that to unlock the bikes. After use, they must be returned to a bike rack or the sidewalk, and can only be used within the designated pilot area.

“This is another way we are pursuing our all-of-the-above transportation strategy and increasing mobility,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, in a statement. “Now, Staten Islanders and visitors will have another affordable way to explore and get around the North Shore.”

The pilot will expand to the Bronx’s Fordham University area next month, and that will be followed by its roll out in Coney Island later this year. The process hasn’t been without some hiccups—one of the dockless bike providers pulled out of the program last week, and there have been some reports of people not returning the bikes properly.

• One of NYC’s dockless bike share partners pulls out of pilot program [Curbed]
• Jump will double its number of dockless e-bikes in the Bronx [Curbed]
• NYC’s dockless bike share operators include Jump, Lime [Curbed]