NYCHA residents and SNAP recipients can get a free Citi Bike membership this month

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of its Reduced Fare Bike Share program, Citi Bike is now offering a free month of membership to NYCHA residents and SNAP recipients, amNY reports. The reduced fare program aims to increase accessibility to the popular bike share—which received criticism for its initial rollout in more affluent NYC neighborhoods—by offering no-commitment $5 monthly memberships for any NYCHA residents and SNAP recipients. The program has 3,400 active riders, just a small fraction of Citi Bike’s 150,000 annual members.

New Yorkers who are eligible for the promotion can pick up a gift certificate for the free month at one of 55 libraries in Citi Bike’s service area. The gift certificate will allow riders to sign up online for a free month using their NYCHA account or EBT number. Once the monthlong promotion is over, riders will be able to continue their membership at the $5 monthly rate.

“The benefits are really broad: It’s everything from saving money from transportation, substituting train rides or bus rides with Citi Bike; running errands or using it as a form of exercise,” said Anne Krassner, Lyft’s equity and community programs manager.

The promotion is intended to increase awareness of the reduced fare program ahead of Citi Bike’s planned 35-square-mile expansion. As 6sqft previously reported, Lyft bought Citi Bike‘s operator Motivate last year, making a $100 million investment and a promise to triple the Citi Bike fleet over the next five years to cover an area more than twice its current size. While only 40% of NYCHA residents are covered right now, by 2023 that number will increase to 70%.

[Via amNY]

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