New York City launches bike share service

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New York City on Monday launched what aims to be one of the world's biggest bike share programs, following in the path already taken by Paris, Montreal, London and Barcelona.

New Yorkers will now be able to move around on the 6,000 blue "Citi Bikes" distributed among 333 stations in Manhattan and Brooklyn - the first phase of a network that is supposed to grow to 10,000 bikes at 600 stations.

About 14,000 New Yorkers have paid an annual $103 (S$130.23) fee entitling them to unlimited rides of 45 minutes. Daily and weekly plans will be available as well from June 2.

The roll-out, which has caused changes in traffic patterns and in the urban landscape, have caused some grumbling among New Yorkers who have seen parking places disappear and complain the bike racks look ugly.

And there is raging debate over the risks posed by a higher degree of road sharing among cars and bikes in a city not known for patience.

When it reaches full strength, the New York bike share program will be the third largest in the world, after the Chinese tourist hotspot of Hangzhou, which has 60,000 bikes on offer, and Paris, with more than 20,000 cycles.

Many other cities around the world have launched similar initiatives including Berlin, Boston, Brisbane, Hamburg, Melbourne, Mexico City, Milan, Munich, Stockholm, Tel Aviv and Washington.