Seeing blue; Citi Bikes are coming

Today's posts seem to be all about transit from Uber to the non-stop mess on 27th Avenue and now it's about biking.

I was just in New York and of course if you've been to New York in the past few years, you can't help but see the blue Citi Bikes all over the city. They are ubiquitous, especially in the tourist areas. Rows and rows of them line wall outside Central Park and they are in every corner of the city. Now they are coming to Miami. The DecoBikes you see on South Beach will now become Citi Bikes, which is now becoming the major sponsor of the bike share program and the program will be expanded into Coconut Grove.

The successful program has had people use the bikes 4.5 million times in the three plus years that it's been in the county. Now the Grove, along with Wynwood, Mary Brickell Village, Bayfront Park and even the Perez Art Museum Miami and Bayside and the American Airlines Arena area will all be included in the Citi Bikes program.

“Citi is thrilled to introduce Citi Bike in Miami and enable the expansion of the program from the beach to destinations throughout the Downtown area,” said Heather Cox, Chief Client Experience, Digital and Marketing Officer for Global Consumer Banking at Citi. “As we know firsthand from our experience with Citi Bike in New York, bike share programs are a convenient, healthy and sustainable way for people to travel within the city. Citi Bike Miami offers a new way for Citi to be a part of people’s everyday lives, and we are proud to align ourselves with it.” 

“As a result of working closely with officials in Miami and Miami Beach, we are very excited to deliver a large and robust bike sharing program with a regional presence that will operate as one of the nation’s most heavily used systems,” said Deco Bike President Ricardo Pierdant. “We thank them for all of their support.” 

Citi Bike Miami provides hourly, monthly and annual membership options at varied price points. As with the Citi Bike program in New York, those who use their Citi credit or debit card to purchase an annual membership will receive a $15 statement credit. The new bikes should be appearing in November.

The new Citi Bike Miami program is part of Citi’s community engagement in Miami, which includes Citi being the Community Sponsor of the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, for its 2014-15 season. Through that relationship, Citi will be the presenting sponsor of the New World Symphony’s WALLCAST™ concert series at Miami Beach SoundScape. Citi will also be the presenting sponsor of the SoundScape Cinema Series, an initiative of the City of Miami Beach. 

“As Citi continues to grow in Miami, we want to support quality of life initiatives, enhance our engagement with existing and prospective clients and increase our visibility throughout the city,” said Citi Retail Banking Miami Market President Diane Ryan. “Citi Bike Miami and our new partnerships with New World Symphony and the City of Miami are examples of new ways we are doing that.”