Slower Citi Bike speed limit means higher costs for riders and more cash for Lyft

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Slower rides may be leading to higher profits for Citi Bike.

Last October, then-Mayor Eric Adams ordered Citi Bike to cap speeds on its fleet of grey pedal-assist electric bikes to 15 mph, down from 18 mph. Lyft, which owns Citi Bike, initially complained — but complied with the order. Now, riders say it may be coming at their expense.

“ If they're getting slower, they're getting more expensive,” said Andrew Kam, a frequent Citi Bike user. “It's inconvenient to go slower, so they're charging more and it's a lesser service.”

Citi Bike charges its members 27 cents per minute for an e-bike ride.

Kam crunched the numbers. He notes a 6-mile ride from Chambers Street to 125th Street when the limit was 18 mph would take at least 20 minutes and cost a minimum of $5.40, not factoring in stops. The lower 15 mph speed limit means the same trip cannot possibly be completed in less than 24 minutes, which costs $6.48.

The speed limit, which was imposed in the final months of last year, correlated with higher profits for Citi Bike. Records show the service turned a $24.7 million profit in 2025 as ridership reached record highs, up from a $6.8 million profit the year before.

“ I don't think a lot of people even realize that it happens because unless you were riding a Citi Bike every day, you wouldn't realize that the speed decreased,” said Kam. “It was just a hidden tax on all Citi Bike users.”

At the time the 15 mph cap was imposed, First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said the Citi Bike e-bikes were “an emergency threat to life and property.” His order came after a 3-year-old girl in Williamsburg was struck by an e-bike rider, putting pressure on Adams to address the issue. (The rider was not on a Citi Bike).

The speed limit mandate was put in place just before early voting started for the mayoral election, which Adams lost. Adams also oversaw the removal of a section of the protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue where the girl was struck.

Kam’s complaints come as transit advocates and some city councilmembers are pushing the city to rein in Citi Bike costs and put a $3 cap on e-bike rides for members.

“The policy to lower the Citi Bike speed limit was a sensible safety policy, but the implication for the impact on riders is that we pay more to get where we need to go,” said Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who introduced legislation to lower the bike share fares. “Ultimately we need to lower the costs of Citi Bike rides immediately. We have the most expensive bike share program in the world, and it's not even close.”

In January, Lyft raised Citi Bike fares for a fifth consecutive year, which increased the annual membership fee by $20. The hike also meant members could spend $12.15 for a 45-minute e-bike ride, up from the prior price of $11.25.

"We remain focused on keeping Citi Bike one of the best transportation options in NYC, and we look forward to continuing our discussions with the city on how best to keep the program affordable for riders as it continues to grow,” Lyft spokesperson CJ Macklin wrote in a statement. “As the only major U.S. bikeshare program that's entirely privately financed, Citi Bike's continued growth depends on the system remaining financially healthy, and we're proud that years of investment are now allowing us to reinvest in expanding service for New Yorkers."

The city’s agreement with Lyft expires in 2029, and officials in the Mamdani administration have said that would be the time to work on a better rate for New Yorkers. Many advocates have called for taxpayers to subsidize the service in order to lower its prices.

Citi Bike has a monopoly on rideshare in most parts of the city. The company Lime, which operates a scooter-share in parts of Queens and the Bronx without Citi Bike, is pushing the transportation department to allow it to expand its operation into other areas, arguing that doing so would deter Lyft from hiking its prices.

“Introducing competition for shared micromobility in New York would benefit riders, just as it has in countless cities around the world where Lime operates alongside docked bike share,” Lime spokesperson Juan Restrepo wrote. “We'd love the opportunity to serve more communities across the city, and extend the reach of our widely used discount programs."

NYC transportation news this week

You might be able to finally understand MTA announcements. The MTA is looking to upgrade its public information systems in the subways with a replacement that goes far beyond swapping out aging speakers that spew garbled announcements. The agency last week put out a request to vendors for ways to modernize the transit system’s suite of communication technology, from audio announcements to digital displays to help-point kiosks, and has set aside $800 million to do so. The request calls for an “intelligent” speaker and amplifier system that can adjust its volume based on the amount of noise on the platform. The agency also wants the public address system to be AI-assisted and capable of delivering messages in multiple languages. According to planning documents, 76 of the subway’s 472 stations use audio systems that haven’t been updated in 40 years.

A treasure trove only subway fanatics could dream of. A Brooklyn man visiting a friend in Virginia stumbled upon an inimitable collection of subway documents and ephemera that once belonged to Hugh A. Dunne, a.k.a. “Mr. Subways,” a subway historian and collector who briefly worked for the MTA.

Businesses can change their delivery times for some cash. In an effort to reduce daytime traffic, the city is offering one-time cash payments — funded by congestion pricing — to local businesses that shift to overnight delivery schedules.

Biking around Grand Central. A design floated by the city transportation department would create a bike lane around the elevated section of Park Avenue that snakes around Grand Central Terminal.

Peak traffic season is upon us. The city Department of Transportation has identified 20 so-called gridlock days throughout the end of the year. More than half are in December, but some of the days leading up to Thanksgiving will be extra-congested as well.

Fewer trains, longer commutes in store for NJ Transit riders. From Sunday, Oct. 11 to Sunday, Nov. 15, all NJ Transit rail lines except the Atlantic City Rail Line will undergo significant changes as construction crews work to complete the transition to the new Portal North Bridge.

‘Low-traffic neighborhoods' may be coming to a neighborhood near you. A bill in the city council would require the city’s transportation department to make changes to streets in five neighborhoods “with a focus on creating low-traffic neighborhoods through directing traffic away from residential areas.”

Judge rules MTA needs to keep subway token booths staffed. A Manhattan judge blocked an MTA effort to allow antiquated token booths in subway stations to go unstaffed under limited circumstances.

Curious Commuter

Have a question for us? Use this form to submit yours and we may answer it in a future newsletter!

Question from Adam in Queens

“What are those little thermometer stickers on the ceilings of the subway cars? I assume the HVAC is inside there but that doesn't seem like something they'd need stickers to tell people.”

Answer

You are correct it’s where the HVAC system is located, but the sticker isn’t meant to identify the system itself. That’s the location where MTA workers do temperature checks to make sure the AC is working.

“All NYCT subway cars have these thermometer decals in them. They are placed intentionally on the ceilings and can be seen at either end of the car near HVAC diffusers,” said MTA spokesperson Hannah Beck.

The MTA began installing the stickers in 2008. Workers use a laser to scan the decal, get the temperature and adjust the AC for the optimal temperature if necessary. Subway cars are set between 72.5 or 75 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the length of the car, according to agency spokesperson Kayla Shults.