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New York City's Citi Bike bike-share system expands into New Jersey

New York City's Citi Bike bike-share system expands into New Jersey

Bike sharing is a trend that is taking the country by storm of late as Jersey City, New Jersey, jumps on the biking bandwagon installing 35 docking stations for 350 bicycles.

The new Jersey City bike sharing setup will work in sync New York City‘s system and will have the same pricing scheme. Likewise, membership to either system overlaps with the other, so bikes can be used across both cities.

Docking stations have been placed near PATH stations and spread over the city and into the suburbs. In fact, nearly every neighborhood will have one. Subsequently the distances between docking locations is longer than that compared to the system in NYC. In New York, Motivate, the group behind the scheme, focused on core areas and then dispersed docking locations later on.

Speaking to the Jersey Journal, Mayor Steve Fulop said, “We wanted each of the areas in the city to have access right from the start. That was a priority.”

Dispersing the docks so widely is a risk however, as commuters may be put off cycling the longer distances. Fulop though expressed his excitement for the system to be integrated city-wide. “It’s not very often that a city gets a completely new public transit system, a new way to enjoy the outdoors and stay active, and a new link to New York all at once, but that’s what we have today with Citi Bike,” Fulop said in a press release. “This is something that will connect every corner of the city. We have bike stations in every ward.”

Part of the appeal of the biking scheme is that it doesn’t require any public money for operating subsidies. Like in NYC, Citi Bike Jersey City is funded by private sponsorships and user fees.

Motivate president and CEO Jay Walder said: “Thanks to Mayor Fulop’s visionary leadership and the support of terrific sponsors, the Citi Bike program is now a seamless regional transportation network improving commutes on both sides of the Hudson.”

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