In late 2023, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) installed a Citi Bike docking station on E 191st St. and Bathgate Avenue, right outside the gate by Finlay Hall. Citi Bike, powered by Lyft, originated in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and the installation is part of NYC DOT’s expansion of Citi Bike stations throughout New York City boroughs.
First launched in 2013, Citi Bike is available for 24-hour use and bikes are accessible at hundreds of stations across New York City. Currently, Citi Bike has over 25,000 bikes and over 1,500 docking stations across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Jersey City and Hoboken.
“Citi Bikes are what are called in the transportation industry as ‘flexible infrastructure.’ They’re super easy to install, don’t require electricity and operate wirelessly,” said Bill Colona, Fordham University’s assistant vice president for government relations, federal and urban affairs.
In order to prepare for the installation of a new docking station, NYC DOT holds a series of public workshops that provide an overview of the Citi Bike system. NYC DOT also engages in community outreach opportunities to gauge where people want the bikes to be.
“DOT engages in, what I would say, a collaborative process. Whenever they’re thinking of installing Citi Bikes, they always approach the large stakeholder groups to assess their plan,” said Colona. Colona participated in a briefing in 2020 when Citi Bike was first considering expanding in the Bronx.
“We like to provide an opportunity for students to weigh in. Basically what happened is we provided information about the station-planning information app to the Commuter Student Association (CSA) and United Student Government (USG) for feedback. Students at Fordham, but also anyone in the community, could weigh in,” said Colona. Through this process, a Citi Bike station was installed outside of the Fordham Metro-North station a few years prior.
In early 2023, Colona worked with the office of the Dean of Students on outreach related to an interactive station-planning map for students — creating digital flyers with a QR code for a NYC DOT station-planning map. The flyers were placed in the McShane Campus Center for three weeks.
According to Colona, NYC DOT reached out this past summer with the idea to install a Citi Bike docking station in the community, with 191st St. as an option. Colona suggested the station be installed outside Faculty Memorial Hall (FMH). The Citi Bike station location was negotiated. Ultimately, NYC DOT decided to install the station on 191st St.
“NYC DOT looked into it and they said they thought a rack by FMH would be too close to another Citi Bike rack up the road. Which is why DOT proceeded to put the rack on 191st St.,” said Colona. NYC DOT originally proposed to place the station outside the Walsh gate turnstile, but Colona asked for the station to be installed further down 191st St. over concerns regarding foot traffic by the turnstile.
“I think at the end of the day, they [Citi Bikes] will provide community members with an alternative way of exploring the neighborhoods and everything the Bronx has to offer,” concluded Colona.
Jamie Serruto, FCRH ’24, USG’s vice president of facilities and dining emeritus, said he was grateful for Colona’s guidance and expertise regarding the Citi Bike installation process.
“The Citi Bikes came as a surprise, so Bill was very helpful in breaking down the process of negotiating with the city as well as helping understand the Citi Bike contract.”
Serruto noted that his main concern regarding the Citi Bike station was safety, saying that USG wants to make sure that students are safe both on and off campus.
“I think one of the biggest issues for us and for me is bicycle education in New York City. With the emergence of bicycles, scooters and mopeds there are a lot of people who are disregarding New York City traffic laws. So it’s our hope that the city provides better education on traffic laws and also enforcement,” commented Serruto.
Serruto said that there is room for improvement regarding pedestrian safety on Fordham Road and suggested that New York City needs to crack down on traffic violations whether that be through rider education campaigns or adjusting the timing of crosswalk lights on Fordham Road.
Although Serruto doesn’t know any students who have used the bikes, he regarded the convenience of the station’s location outside Finlay gate. Similar to Colona, Serruto hopes that students will utilize the bikes as an opportunity to further explore the Bronx.
