Plenty of financial woes, but no fatalities for Citi Bike so far

Of 8.75M trips in the first year, 100 crashes were reported

Citi Bike docking stations
Citi Bike docking stations

With millions of rides made and close to 15 million miles traveled, one figure describing the city’s bicycle share program remains remarkably low: there have been zero fatalities since Citi Bike launched last year.

“Out of 8.75 million trips, we’ve had about 100 crash reports, of which about 25 warranted a trip to the ER,” Citi Bike spokesperson Dani Simon told Slate. “To my knowledge there have been zero fatalities to date. I am keeping up my daily prayers that this trend continues.”

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Financially, Citi Bike has been struggling. Most recently, the city said the program owes about $1 million in parking revenue.

When Citi Bike launched last summer, critics charged that the program would pose a safety risk to the already crowded streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn. The results, however, have been similar to those of other bicycle sharing programs in other cities, such as Washington, D.C., where the fatality rate has also been low. [Slate] — Claire Moses