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Angel Points for low battery e-bike to charging dock
On the Citibike Reddit there are some threads about this, I posted one long response with some ideas about what that could look like, which I reproduce here: Once there are a few more charging stations, there is a motivation to do this –I'd been thinking about it already before seeing these posts. But once almost all of the stations have charging docks, there would be less motivation. There doesn't seem to be much interest at CitiBike to add Angel features or more sophisticated points computations – due to the fundamental benefit of simplicity, the cost of hiring more software engineers to implement and support features, but in this case also the chance that if charging docks are widely deployed there might be no more need for this feature. In any possible implementation of such a feature, it would be essential to keep the additional rules for points as simple as possible, and avoid creating unfavorable or confusing interactions with the existing points system or confusion on the part of the Bike Angels. For it to make sense for CitiBike to add Angel points for moving "low charge" e-bikes (whose remaining range is below some threshold, maybe 2 or 3 miles?) from a non-charging station to a charging dock, they would need to have confidence that those bikes would stay in the charging dock until they were (mostly? fully?) charged. I don't know whether those stays are or would be enforced, and if so, for how long, but regardless, it‘s inversely correlated with a need for more bikes in the station. To avoid that conflict of interests CItiBike couldadd points for dropping off "low charge" e-bikes only atneutralcharging stations. Those stations could beindicated with a yellow lightning bolt badgewhere the usual +/- points badge would be if they were not neutral. As CitiBike gains experience with this system, they could tweak the Angel points algorithm to favor a neutral status for charging stations in situations where they might otherwise be +/- 1 point. Showing the location of "low charge" e-bikes to Bike Angels is tricky, but critical, since Angels are lazy hard workers unlikely to search stations on the off chance of finding a "low charge" e-bike. Ideally there would be both anindication of stations with "low charge" e-bikes in the appand anindication for "low charge" e-bikes on their docks. Currently, red and yellow LEDs indicate bikes that require recharging and are not available for pick-up; extending this to "low charge" e-bikes would be somewhat helpful, but it would be better to have a distinctive indication, perhaps a flashing yellow LED only? This would probably require updates to the dock software or firmware (and maybe the Cosmo e-bikes as well), but if A/B stations can display red to prevent dock blocking, they might be able to identify "low charge" e-bikes in some way. Doing so would also be helpful for non-Angel members looking for e-bikes with enough range for a longer ride. The station icons in the app are already cluttered, with e-bike and classic bike counters as well as Angel points. While the number of "low charge" e-bikes is definitely of interest, those numbers are likely to be small in most cases, maybe one to three and rarely more than that, unlike bikes unavailable due to very low charge. This would need to be displayed at pick-up stations (which already have a number for Angel points), as well as neutral stations, but probably not at drop-off stations, where it would be counterproductive. Abadge with one, two, or three "low bat" symbols for a non-charging station with one, two, or 3+ "low charge" e-bikeswould not take up too much space and would not be confused with the other counters or Angel point indications. If it is easier to use Unicode symbols, trigrams might work: ☱ ☳ ☷. Given that this data can change with every dock or undock, rather than just once every 15 minutes, it should be displayed together with the e-bike and classic bike counters, and suppressed from the display when e-bike and classic bike counters are merged into one. It may be that the information about the number of "low charge" e-bikes at a station is not available, or impractical to update together with other availability data. If it isn't possible to display this, it might still make sense to offer Bike Angel points for moving "low charge" e-bikes from a non-charging station to a charging dock, but probably only if there is an indication for "low charge" e-bikes on their docks. Rather than waiving e-bike fees, it would make more sense for CitiBike tooffer optional pedal assist mode for "low charge" e-bikes. It may be impractical to restrict that to Bike Angel members, but there's value in offering it to all users. This feature wouldnotbe available at a station with charging docks, onlyat off-grid non-charging stations. The purpose would be to extend the "charge lifetime" of e-bikes and to make moving "low-charge" e-bikes more appealing to Bike Angels, since they could do so for free. It may not be worth implementing if there are no points for moving "low-charge" e-bikes from non-charging stations to charging docks, and even if there are points, implementing this would be an optional add-on. Well, that's a lot of ideas, it's not a simple application and I wouldn't expect to see anything like it this year or probably even next year, but perhaps someone working at CitiBike might find it useful or an inspiration for other ideas.Stale pricing data on website
I was just looking at the station JSON data and clicked through the rental URI "rental_uris": { "android": "https://bkn.lft.to/lastmile_qr_scan", "ios": "https://bkn.lft.to/lastmile_qr_scan" }, which took me to https://citibikenyc.com/qrcodes where I see the following outdated information: Pricing Get started with a single ride or a day pass. $3.50/ride Includes the first 30 minutes of one ride on a classic Citi Bike. When you upgrade your ride to an ebike, it will be an extra $0.18/min. $15/day 24 hours of Citi Bike access, includes unlimited 30-minute rides on a Classic Citi Bike. Although its nice to see the ebike per-minute price given (what about classic bike price after 30 minutes?), these are rather out of date compared to the updated pricing in the footer link (https://account.citibikenyc.com/access-plans): Single ride $4.79/trip Great for quick trips Day pass $19 Perfect for visitors exploring New YorkDivvy Cash for Points Please
Thank you. Please, implement Divvy points for cash as is available in some other markets. Please, would someone here with the ability to forward, request, argue, beg, the people who make Lyft decisions make this happen. Thank you. In a few days I banked enough points for a years worth of membership extensions. Since those days, I have not been on a Divvy Bike Angels ride. Sure, not much different than just riding for 80pts a month, but if there was a cash incentive, or some other options to redeem Lyft credits, I'd be out redistributing bikes everyday. Just saying. Thank you.Help! Major Divvy Fail
Major Divvy Fail Navy Pier, Chicago's top tourist attraction, is showing Pickup and 150 bikes But there are zero bikes there! And, because Lyft has the station at +6 points for PICKUPS, no Angels will be feeding, redistributing bikes to the station. NO. 1 tourist attraction on Sunday , the day of the NASCAR Race. Yes people are looking for bikes. Major failAddressing Service Disparities in Citi Bike: A Personal Perspective from Eastern Queens
The NYC Comptroller's office recently published a report titled "Riding Forward: Overhauling Citi Bike’s Contract for Better, More Equitable Service" highlighting performance disparities within the Citi Bike program. One key issue identified is the disparity in service levels between the Manhattan core and the outer boroughs, particularly in neighborhoods predominantly inhabited by Black and Hispanic residents. I want to share my personal experience supporting this issue. As a frequent rider starting in eastern Queens, I often encounter a lack of available dock space at nearby stations. Unlike the midtown commuting stations, which are regularly drained and repopulated, these stations remain perpetually full. This morning's view is a case in point: Many stations are completely full, which artificially suppresses demand as it becomes impossible to dock bikes. Additionally, some stations show 1 or 2 available docks on the app, but in reality, they are also full, misleading the algorithm and exacerbating the problem. I downloaded the real-time GBFS status at 6 AM this morning and examined a random station (99 St & 38 Ave) as a boundary. There are 51 stations to the east of this station, 19 of which are completely full (excluding stations falsely showing 1 or 2 available docks). That's 37% of stations being unusable, far exceeding the 2% or 4% requirement per Citi Bike's contract with the City. If I explored further, this percentage could easily rise to 50%. These 19 full stations have 411 bikes docked. These bikes are underutilized compared to others. By redistributing just half of these bikes (around 200) to Manhattan, we could potentially increase revenue by $36,000 per month (based on May 2024 figures). This issue is not isolated to Queens; Red Hook, lower Manhattan, and other outer boroughs face similar neglect. We're likely missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue due to inefficient bike usage. Additionally, addressing this problem could help avoid potential penalties. Citi Bike uses a combination of trucks, treks, and Angels to rebalance bikes, but this effort seems absent in my neighborhood. Community outreach to increase usage is futile if Citi Bike remains unusable for these residents. One possible solution is to adjust the Angel reward program to prioritize redistributing bikes from congested areas. However, the current point system incentivizes Angels to work in Manhattan, where they can earn 12-15 points by moving bikes a few blocks, as opposed to half a mile or more in congested areas. I would love to hear from the program managers at Citi Bike about their thoughts on this issue and potential solutions to address it.If Lyft's Objective is to redistribute bikes ...
Then reinstate/start an award for the most points in a month. It doesn't have to be something big, just an incentive to push ahead of the top spot holder. That perk alone could move a proportionally higher number of bikes, especially towards the end of the month. The "Bank" was a great innovation to the Bike Angels program. Please, continue with more Divvy needs a Points for Cash option, and some accommodation$$ for moving abandoned eBikes Abandoned eBikes are often quite a distance from a dock That's more money for little points Thank youDivvy Un-docked eBike
Chicago Divvy Divvy allows eBikes to be parked out of stations for an additional fee. You see from the pic, that creates a situation where many, many eBikes are left out in the streets. It takes great resources for Divvy to collect these ebikes. Bike Angels can help, but it makes no sense when the fees charged to collect an eBike and return it to a station far exceed the value of the points earned. Each ride will calculate differently, but in the end, on a high point ride, you'll do little better than breaking even when returning an un-docked eBike to a station. Sure, having bikes scattered around is often handy for members, but many of the eBikes in Chicago go unused or have been "abandoned" in the streets for weeks. The issue is exacerbated with the increase of eBikes over classic. Keeping the docking stations full, and the redistribution of bikes between stations, will be hard to achieve if bikes are left unused and spread out around the city.
Exporting Ride History
It appears that you can no longer export your Ride History from the CitiBike / Lyft website. I've done this for the past 4 years every 6 months to submit documentation for a Gym Reimbursement benefit through my health insurance. I find it hard to believe that this function could not be replicated on the larger Lyft platform. Has this been an issue for anyone else under the new management?
