Idea: Always Offer Low-assist option for eBikes (next-gen)
As many riders know, the low-assist mode for next-gen eBikes is only available if there are no classic/acoustic bikes at the station. When you then scan the eBike using the app you choose between low assist and full assist. Citi Bike ought to offer the option of low assist for next-gen eBikes regardless of the presence of a classic/acoustic bike to accommodate. If you agree with this idea, please like this post to show your interest to the Bike Angel team. For me there are two reasons why I'd like to see this: Classic bikes have seats that don't go high enough for riders 6'1 or taller which can lead to knee pain for long or uphill rides. Next-gen bikes allow for the seat to move higher but more often than not I have to pay for this privilege because there are classic bikes at the station. On more than one occasion I don't get the pedal assist option for eBikes because there's one classic bike at a broken dock that can't be removed so I'm forced to pay for a full power eBike ride when I don't want to/shouldn't have to. To streamline the experience, this should be an opt-in option so that full-assist riders used to scanning and riding aren't burdoned by having to choose full-assist each time. Lastly, in conjunction with this idea, please offer users the pedal assist preference via the iPhone and Android apps (under Settings). For some reason it is only offered via https://account.citibikenyc.com/profile after logging into your account making it frustrating and confusing for riders who primarily use the app and can't find anywhere to update their preference:Citibike/Lyft again makes a change to the program with no notification!
So it seems like Citibike/Lyft has pulled another fast one on us–instead of Bike Angels getting the previous $200 worth of value (obviously not actually cash anymore) when we redeem 1000 points, starting this month you seem to have lowered it to us getting only $150 worth of E-gift cards. And as usual, you have not sent an email informing the Bike Angels of this change, you have posted nothing official on this blog, nor did you do anything to make us aware of it, so the only way anyone would have found out is at the end of February, after they spent the whole month accumulating points when they went to redeem them, and suddenly discovered that they were now worth 25% less in value! This is reminiscence of many of the changes Citibike/Lyft has made to the Bike Angels program, most recently when you decided to stop letting us redeem our hard earned points for ACH, changing your long-standing arrangement, with no communication to members, only some fine print if they redeemed their points that month, that many people missed. And if anyone was banking their points, thinking they could redeem them later for cash, well they were just out of luck! I just found out about this most recent change yesterday because someone shared it with me, otherwise I would’ve been in the dark until I went to redeem my points at the end of February. I really feel that Citibike/Lyft does not care about the Bike Angels, and it’s doing everything in it’s power to destroy the system and any goodwill that they had left with us. Pretty soon no one is going to want to be a Bike Angel, and Citibike/Lyft will have to spend all the money (and likely more) that they think they are saving by making these changes, and hire more employees to move all the bikes. And again, this lack of notification, of transparency, along with last year’s long delays in receiving our rewards after we redeemed our points, speaks volumes to how Citibike/Lyft really feels about their dedicated Bike Angels.Improve the Citi Bike Map
Problem: In the Citi Bike map (in the app) it is almost impossible to tell traffic flow direction for streets when browsing the map, an arguably important piece of information when biking in NYC. Similarly, reading street names is just as hard with them only appearing if you zoom in almost all the way! The green bike lane lines cover the street arrows which indicate the direction of traffic (I've circled two arrows that are being covered). Also, only two street name labels are showing here: Suggestions: Make it easier to see the traffic flow arrows by either making the direction arrows easier to see (change color, size, etc) or allow users to toggle the green bike lane overlay on the map on and off Make it easier to see/read street names and prioritize them over places of interest Add a toggle to show/hide places of interest on the map (restaurants, hotels, stores, etc) Lastly, an argument against improving the current experience might be to user the "directions" feature which will give you a correct route but to that I say that sometimes we just want to do an ad-hoc bike ride. Secondly, bike angels (like me) would love to better see street names and traffic flow directions I don't really use the directions feature because there's no way to simply put a pin on the map or tap on a station as your start and end address; we must type in the address which is time-consuming.A community for all Bike Angels
In 2021, we launched this community with less than 100 Bike Angels from NYC who ride with Citi Bike to understand how Angels would interact here and what we can learn from the community. Today, the community has grown to more than 1900 members, and we have Angels from outside NYC represented in the community. We’re pumped to share that we’re expanding the community to create a space where Bike Angels from cities across the U.S. can connect and find answers. Did you know there are about 50,000 Angels in NYC, but that's only 71% of all Angels? What’s changing? We’re inviting about 14,000 new Bike Angels to join in the conversation here. One thing to note: Angels from different cities have different experiences with their bikeshare system and the Bike Angels program. For instance, Bike Angels in Chicago can earn points for moving scooters, too! And, rewards offered differ by city—check out the links at the bottom of our homepage. When chatting, keep in mind that you may be replying to someone with a slightly different experience with their bikeshare system or the game. How can I help build the community? As founding members of the Bike Angels Community, you all have set the pace for how we’ll communicate here. New members may need some help along the way, and of course, we’ll make them feel welcome. If you spot duplicate threads or irrelevant replies, kindly steer members in the right direction to help keep the community productive and organized.
Just Noticed Rewards
Have been reduced significantly. If you want to redeem points for gift card, the only options are $10 for 100 points or $150 for 1000 points. They took away the $50 reward for 300 points. It’s all quite disappointing. I have to wonder what the rationale is for cutting the rewards so drastically. For my part, I am mostly riding for leisure now and not giving much thought to whether the station I take a bike from is wither pick up or drop off. If I need to get someplace, I completely disregard whether I’ll get points or whether my boost will end. This month is the first month in ages that I’ve never had enough points for a reward other than ebike minutes. I’ve seen that others have not been deterred; occasionally I will see someone who is obviously a Bike Angel racing from time station to another to pick up and drop off bikes. God bless them. I’m not working harder for fewer perks/benefits. This, of course, is all the fault of the renegade Bike Angels who made it their life’s mission to game the system. Wonder what they’re doing now that the program has been eviscerated.
A glitch in the system
As i rebalance bikes for citibike, sometimes i end up being charged for taking an ebike when there are no available classic bikes. For short rides this doesnt amount to much money. But every now and then i take the trouble to call in or write to let them know and to ask to be credited the mistaken charge. Here is my response to lyfts latest response: Oss Youre missing the point. Im letting you know that your program is not working as it should. If a bike angel takes an ebike when there is no classic bike available, they're not supposed to be charged. I am well aware of the low assist option. If you had checked my profile you would have seen i had selected that option last year. Yesterday and today i rebalanced bikes for you but your system is not keeping track of it. I'm really not concerned about the $1.12 i was charged incorrectly. You are nickle diming me instead of thanking me for making you aware of a glitch in the system. So now i will consider forgetting about being your bike angel. I have taken time to write you and call you about this situation. That i would calculate as worth $20 of my time. I dont think ill make the effort for you any longer.
City Explorer
I completed the City Explorer in September. Aside from the wonderful all-black picture captured from my app (which I used to print up a t-shirt), there was no recognition from Citibike or Lyft. I think it would be wise for Lyft to publicize this, as it will attract other riders to complete the task. A number of past City Explorers had newspaper articles written about them. The simplest way to do this is a leaderboard. I get that the number of stations, and the number of stations remaining, is computed from the ride history each time I click on "view profile", so it's not as easy as the bike angel leaderboard. But it shouldn't be that difficult to compute a leaderboard once per month. Hoping this or something like it gets done. I'm any case, I'll be back on the road this fall when the expansion happens.
