I’ve purchased a bike-share pass, but my bike does not move.

Where is the motor?
There is no motor. One of the goals of the bike-share program is to reduce noise and pollution.

Wouldn’t it create jobs if the bike-share program hired employees to pedal clients to their destinations?
You have to pedal yourself. There’s no way around it.

Are there bike-share bicycles built for two so we can team up and get through this together?
One user per bike. And no, users are not permitted to ride on another user’s handlebars.

Are there bike-share Geniuses to help troubleshoot how to learn to ride a bike-share bike?
It is understood that only people who already know how to ride bikes will participate in the program.

Isn’t that discrimination against bicycle-deficient citizens?
We’re trying to do a responsible thing. It’s not for everyone.

Are extra points awarded for beating other bike-share racers to the next station?
The bike-share program is meant to provide affordable alternative transportation. It is not a race.

Then why, every time I look behind me, are other bike-share bikers chasing me?
They aren’t chasing you. They are traveling to their destination, which happens to be in the same direction you are traveling.

Can the bikes be used for jousting?
No one wants to be knocked from a bike with a lance to the chest during his or her commute.

Can we put the bike in the back of a cab and be driven to the next station?
That defeats the purpose of the bike-share program, but technically yes.

Is it true a rival gang of bike-share bikers has been vandalizing our bike-share gang’s stations?
The bike-share program does not have gangs. We consist of independent, socially responsible, environmentally conscious constituents trying to get from one point to another without harming the environment.

Then why are other bikers flashing me gang signs?
Those are hand signals alerting other bikers to where they are going.

If we pull a hammy mid-ride, can we get extra injury time added to our rental period?
That’s not how it works. Maybe this isn’t for you. Have you considered other forms of public transportation?

Is there a bike-share pit crew if we crash, or if we get bike-jacked (or bike-jousted!), or if our bike-share bike accidentally ends up in a river or an elevator shaft?
If you crash or suffer any setbacks, no matter how implausible, please call 911.

How do we know the bike-share program isn’t some elaborate Ponzi scheme?
It’s not a Ponzi scheme.

But isn’t that exactly what someone running a Ponzi scheme would say? How do we know we aren’t pouring money into a fraudulent investment vehicle, one that has us all duped with these shiny, trouble-free bikes, and once the caper has achieved transportation utopia, in which traffic buildup has disappeared, smog and noise and stress have dwindled to acceptable toxic levels, strangers of competing ethnicities and careers take turns merging, stopping for pedestrians, calling out “good morning,” returning bikes to docking stations and wiping them clean just to be better citizens—how do we know, once that is achieved, that you won’t up and disappear with our money?
Just take the bus.

So why, then, do we have to share bikes?

In inaugurating its bike-share program, New York City has now joined the likes of urban thought leaders such as Madison, Wis., and Minneapolis, Minn. Mayor Bloomberg, who deserves an honorary yellow jersey for his contributions to cycling, kicked off the program, along with his transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, designer of the rightfully mocked empty thoroughfares known as bike lanes.

The bike-share program allows users, who pay a weekly rate of $25 or a daily rate of $9.95, to borrow a bike to ride from one designated station to another. Adherents insist that this will lead to great changes not only in commuting habits but in the city’s culture—after all, sharing is caring.

What’s more likely is that a few earnest users will take advantage of this city-run program to feel morally superior to those who, for whatever reason, prefer not to sweat their way to a meeting. Never mind the threats to public safety (the Fire Department has expressed concerns about staging its vehicles near bike stations) and the inevitability of accidents involving goofy tourists who can’t even walk on the sidewalks without fouling things up.

The bike-share program, however innocent its intent, represents another governmental incursion into the private marketplace. Rather than encourage business to develop creative solutions to gridlock, the government has imposed its own solution.

But what does that matter, if a few people can feel superior to the rest of us?

At least tourists like the maps.

These last few weeks, to hear some people tell it, you'd think that New York's streets have been endangered by one of the greatest threats to public safety that the city has ever seen (not to mention the worst aesthetic blight since the Ugg craze). Comparisons have been drawn between the Department of Transportation and the Taliban. There have been impassioned pleas, there have been fits of yelling and, of course, there have been lawsuits. But now, perhaps, we'll finally get some respite from all the bike rack hatred as New Yorkers shift their hatred to the bikes themselves.

Citi Bikes will be arriving in the next few days—some 800 of the 6,000 bikes are already docked at stations—and New Yorkers will be able to take them out for a spin starting Memorial Day. It's just too bad that the incessant whining over the bikes is likely to sound very much like the incessant whining over the racks, led first and foremost by the chorus of sanctimonious ninnies going on about public safety.

Public safety seems to be the trump card these days when it comes to complaining about anything you don't like. It's also incredibly useful for garnering press attention and an effective response, even when the complaints are not justified.

Earlier this week, the New York Post reported that the co-op at 175 West 13th Street, which had sued the city for putting bike share racks in front of  its building "nearly saw its worst fears realized Sunday when emergency responders had trouble getting to a 92-year-old resident in distress."

Worst fears or just the non-event that bike rack-hating residents were waiting for to bolster their flimsy case? Residents eagerly painted a picture of EMS responders stymied by the waist-high racks for the Post, the co-op board president called the racks an "impregnable wall" and the board's lawyer quipped that it was "good news is the guy's not dead."

The 92-year-old's wife gave the most heartbreaking account of all, telling the Post that "the ambulance couldn’t even come up to the building. The ambulance couldn’t get to him."

Which was not actually true at all, according to the New York Fire Department, which released a statement from fire commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano reading, "Contrary to a news report today, FDNY EMT's had absolutely no problems responding to and providing medical care to a patient on Sunday on West 13th Street in Manhattan.  The FDNY has been working closely with DOT on this initiative and we have not experienced any problems nor do we anticipate issues operating at or near bike racks that have been situated on city streets."

Then, rather than owning up to the fact that the breathless account was overblown, the co-op doubled down and was seemingly rewarded when the DOT removed several racks directly in front of the building (the DOT said that it had been planning to remove the bike racks before the "incident.") Never mind that parked cars would ostensibly be just as much an impediment, if not more,  than the bike racks. And that there would be very little street parking in the city if the DOT created emergency zones in front of every residential building. (The DOT responded to The Observer's interview request by pointing to the Fire Department's statement.)

What's more, the removal didn't even placate the building residents, who are apparently too crotchety to navigate around any bike racks and are still suing the city because they believe that any bike racks in the vicinity of their building present traffic and safety concerns. We just hope that these people don't catch wind of how dangerous cars are.

So in days to come expect lots of whining and clutching of chests and news organizations around the city mobilizing to interview little old ladies and grouchy drivers about how unsafe bike share is. How it presents real public safety concerns. How it's an impediment to traffic. How someone is going to get hurt. When what they are complaining about is the fact that bike share will be a little inconvenient for anyone who's not using bike share. And what they're forgetting is that to live in New York is to be irritated by endless construction and sidewalk-blocking tourists and noisy neighbors. To be constantly inconvenienced, in other words, by other people doing things that have nothing to do with you.

Though the Department of Transportation promised the bikes in the upcoming Citi Bike program are “sturdy, heavy bikes,” they’re not meant for overweight riders, according to a fact in Citi Bike’s user agreement, pointed out by The New York Post yesterday.

The bikes, which can accommodate riders up to 6 feet 8 inches tall, and have titanium locks that DOT policy director Jon Orcutt said are "pretty much bombproof,” apparently won’t support anyone over 260 pounds.

The weight limit rule can be found in Section 5 of the terms of service, titled “prohibited acts.” It states, “You must not exceed the weight limit for the Citi Bicycle (260 pounds).” All riders are required to agree to a contract before hopping on a bike, which includes the Section 5 provision.

But overweight bikers need not ride in fear—no one is going to be waiting for you with a scale.

“I think people will be self-selecting, practical and safe,” Mr. Orcutt told The Post.

The DOT also stated that the limit is part of a legal provision that had to be included because of a deal with the manufacturer. The weight restriction also applies in other cities with bike share programs, including Boston and London.

“These technical specs are established by the equipment manufacturer and are the same as other bike share cities around the world and standard on commercially available bikes and components,” DOT spokesperson Seth Solomonow told Gothamist. “We expect people will use the bikes safely.”

The Citi Bike program, operated by NYC Bike Share, is set to begin later this month, with thousands of bikes at hundreds of locations all over Manhattan and Brooklyn. Riders have the options of renting a bike for 24 hours for $9.95, buying a seven-day Access Pass for $25 or signing up for an annual membership for $95.

A bike share station at the Navy Yards, in sunnier days. (Brooklyn Spoke)

One of the victims of Superstorm Sandy was the city's CitiBike bike share program. After the program was delayed last summer due to computer problems, many of the bikes and stations that were awaiting deployment were warehoused at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Much of the yards flooded when the East River burst its banks during the storm surge, including the lot with the bikes.

But today, the city's Department of Transportation announced that the bike share system would be ready to go in the spring as promised, and even announced a date, or at least a month, for the launch: May 2013. That is two months after the department had hoped to roll out the system, in March, and there will also be fewer bikes at fewer locations initially.

“DOT has worked around the clock to restore vital transportation links following the storm and that includes putting Citi Bike on the road to recovery,” Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said in a statement. “Despite the damage, New York will have the nation’s largest bike share system up and running this spring.”

Come May, there will be only 5,500 bikes at 300 stations in Midtown, Downtown and parts of Brooklyn. That would still make the system the largest in the nation, but it is a little more than half the size of the full system, which will have 10,000 bikes at 600 stations (none of which are located in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx and much of Queens and Brooklyn, to the chegrin of some residents there and the joy of others, who are no fans of bikes).

Beep beep. (Sam Sifton/Instagram)

For all the complaints about the city's planned bike share system, is there any better way to get around right now? Social media is already flooded with reports of horrendous traffic—see the Instapic at left from The Times’s Sam Sifton, Journal transit reporter Ted Mann reports on Twitter that "City without subways: Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn is a titanic clog of traffic in the morning rush."

"The deli will be open for breakfast shortly," announces Mile End. "No MTA & heavy traffic delays slowing us down." The Times has a pretty handy graphic of just how horrible it is.

The only thing thicker than the traffic is the tweeting and Facebooking about it. And the reports of multi-bus, multi-hour commutes, sans subway, are piling up.

This reporter will be riding his bike, and he can't help but wonder if a lot more people would be, too, if they had the chance.

There was certainly a lot of schadenfreude this summer when it turned out the Citibike bike share program would be pushed back until next year. Well, if there's another terrible hurricane, perhaps that would be a good thing, but for now, it's kind of a bummer. It reinforces the idea, stressed time and again by DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, that the city needs as many transportation modes as possible. For example, my commute would take half as long by bus if the East River Ferry service were back up and running, rather than taking three or four buses up into Queens and over the bridge. Heck, I could cut the buses out, just walk to the East River, hop the ferry, then trek across Manhattan.

The same could be said for those 10,000 bike share bikes. The problem would probably be trying to get ahold of one, but once you did, buzzing by all those back-to-back cars would be a breeze. Also, maybe people will want to invest in their own folding bike for the storage unit, should these freakish storms cease to be freak occurrences but instead an annual tradition. If anything, the equity issue comes back up—the outer-lying areas of the city, which were not due for one of those 600 bike share stations, would be out of luck.

But what about idiots trying to ride bikes in the middle of a hurricane? According to a DOT spokesman, there is a kill switch on the system. Flip it, and all the bikes lock into their stations and cannot be removed. D.C. has apparently used such systems during major blizzards.

Meanwhile, for those thinking of using the buses, good luck figuring out the best route. The MTA has its route maps here, along with status for the buses, but there is no easy way to link them up. Normally, we would turn to Google Maps, but when you do "bus only," Google annoyingly offers routes that include subways. There may be one all-bus route offered (usually with travel times three to four times what they would be on the subway, never mind the traffic you will encounter), but still—when it says "bus only," shouldn't that be what you get?

Hop Stop is not much better, suggesting the East River Ferry as a good route, which as mentioned, is not running. This may be more the MTA's fault, making it hard for these tech-savvy firms to sync their sites with the latest transit advisories, but it would be nice for everyone to figure it out.

This is not just a storm issue, either. For handicapped New Yorkers, the buses are the only piece of the standard mass transit system they can reliably take, given the lack of accessibility on the subway. We'll give Google a pass for now since Chelsea is without power, but hopefully it can fix this in the future.

Now, back to all that traffic. If there was ever any question that mass transit is the lifeblood of this city, one need only walk the car-clogged streets of the city, the avenues and bridge-bound bottlenecks.

Maybe the state ought to put this into perspective when it comes to hiking the fares next year. Isn't the MTA too valuable to gouge everybody for?

Rollin', rollin', keep those bikes a rollin'... (Edward Reed/Mayor's Office)

Next year, spring showers will bring a flood of bikes.

Despite years of planning and the highest hopes, New York City's bike share program will not be launching this year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on his radio show this morning. "We are just not going to put out the system until it works," the mayor said. "We were going to try a partial launch, but we're just not going to do it if it doesn't work."

John Gambling, Mr. Bloomberg's radio partner, than asked if the launch would be in the spring, which Mayor Bloomberg affirmed.The reason for the delays were software issues, which have plagued the bike share program's operator, Alta Bikes, in other markets, as well, most recently Chatanooga, Tenn., where their system launched months after expected.

“Unfortunately there are software issues," Mayor Bloomberg said. "The software doesn’t work. Duh. Until it works, we’re not going to put it out."

The mayor said he genuinely believed the program would have rolled out on the streets when expected and seemed disappointed it had not. “We did think there would be a possibility we would have bikes on the streets this summer," the mayor said.

Yesterday, the mayor seemed to portend this fate, at an unrelated press conference in Coney Island for an expansion to the New York Aquarium. There, he reiterated the technical glitches and swore there was no big conspiracy underway, according to Capital New York:

"We're getting very close," he said. "Look, everybody wants to say there's a secret agenda here. The software doesn't work. And putting it out when the software doesn't work, it wouldn't work. Period. And so we're trying to find out when we can put a date that we're sure or reasonably sure that it will work. And we're trying."

The mayor also marveled, as he had before, that people were first screaming that they did not want bike share, and now they are screaming about where the heck is it.

Update 9:40: A release from the city's Department of Transportation reveals the system will launch in March 2013, with 7,000 bikes at 420 stations. This is the same size as the initial plans for a first phase rollout that was supposed to have launched in July. Already cyclists on Twitter were hoping for a complete rollout come the spring, but it does not look like that will be the case.

“New York City demands a world-class bike share system, and we need to ensure that Citi Bike launches as flawlessly as New Yorkers expect on Day One,” DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said in a statement. “The enthusiasm for this program continues to grow and we look forward to bringing this affordable new transportation option to New Yorkers without cost to taxpayers.”

In a separate statement, Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, stressed the challenges of the bike share project.

“While we are eager for Citi Bike to begin, it’s more crucial that this ground-breaking transit system be launched correctly, not quickly," he said. "New York’s public bike share program will not only be the largest bike share system in the Western Hemisphere, it will also be the city’s first brand-new, full-scale form of public transit since the subway’s debut more than 100 years ago—this is not a moment to rush."

Update 10:05: And the pile on begins... Comptroller John Liu issued a report critical of bike share earlier this year, says now the administration should take a second look at their program. Via a spokesman: "While the delay may have been caused by poor planning and software problems, the City should take this opportunity to address the remaining safety issues associated with the plan in order to lower the number of accidents and fatalities that may result from the Bike Share program."

Meanwhile Veronica Vanterpool of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign echos Mr. White on the need to wait: "With all eyes on the country’s largest bike share program to date, NYCDOT is right to ensure that the rollout of bike share is smooth and efficient. Waiting until all software issues are resolved is a responsible move that will help guarantee the success of the city’s first bike share. Tri-State looks forward to seeing the program roll out in the spring–perfect timing for putting the drab days of winter behind."

Update 10:30: Going back over the audio from this morning's radio show, the mayor explained just how challenging creating a bike share system for 7,000 bikes is: "It really is very advanced technology. Each station is like a dock, each place you stick in a bike is a computer, and everything runs on solar power so you don’t need a lot of wiring and there’s no burden on the electrical system. There’s an enormous number of transactions you have to communicate in real time to central computers."

He also mentioned the possibility of including speed bumps to slow down cyclists, particularly in Central Park before dismissing the idea. He then argues that bikes, and bike share, are the future:

"Every place where it’s worked is very popular. And the world is going towards more bicycles. They’re not gonna replace cars, but you can’t get more cars on the streets and you have to have other means of transportation. Walking is one thing, bicycles another and buses, subways, those kinds of things. And the streets are there for everybody. The streets are there for people and not just for automobiles."

Watch your head. (Edward Reed/Mayor's Office)

Is it possible that requiring every New Yorker to wear a helmet while cycling might actually be more dangerous for bicyclists than letting them continue on their merry way—cranium at the mercy of crazed drivers, hapless pedestrians, flying rats and their own personal incompetence?

That is exactly the argument made by every cycling enthusiast from Mayor Bloomberg to Joe Twowheels after Brooklyn City Councilman David Greenfield proposed a bill last week that would mandate cyclists don a Styrofoam dome before hitting the streets. Right now, that applies to children under 14, who also have the right to ride on the sidewalk, and delivery cyclists, who believe it or not, do not.

Mr. Greenfield wants to charge cyclists $25 for their first helmetless offense, $50 for the second and $100 thereafter. He points out that a good bike helmet does not cost much more than that first ticket, so what’s the excuse? “It’s basically common sense,” he said of his bill.

But bike advocates argue that the bill will have the opposite effect, making the city less safe for cyclists because it will depress ridership—after all, most New Yorkers are more worried about suffering helmet head than head trauma.

“There is safety in numbers,” said Michael Murphy, communications director for Transportation Alternatives. He pointed to the fact that as the number of cyclists has quadrupled in recent years in the five boroughs, the number of accidents and deaths has concurrently fallen despite the greater number of bikes. "The more bikers, the more awareness, the better off we all are," Mr. Murphy said.

But, it is those numbers that have Councilman Greenfield worried, especially with the city rolling out 6,000 new bike-share bikes this summer and a total of 10,000 by next year. “We’re talking about thousands of tourists and new bikers,” he said. “New York is a unique city, and it’s one of the most challenging places to bike on the planet. I think it’s incumbent upon us to make sure our cyclists are safe. This isn’t Topeka, Kansas.”

Backers of the helmet law have pointed to the fact that the administration once supported such a plan, five years ago, under then-Commissioner Iris Weinshal. They also tend to ignore the fact that she has been leading an anti-bike campaign ever since a protected lane appeared outside her Prospect Park West doorstep.

Still, the timing of this proposal seems to be what has so many bike bigs bothered. If helmets mean fewer riders, that will be doubly the case where bike share is concerned. The entire point of the new Citi Bike program is to encourage hop-on, hop-off convenience. A helmet requirement makes it almost impossible to do that unless one carries a helmet hooked through a belt loop at all times.

“This is a huge canard,” one DOT insider said. “If you want to do something about safety, this is not the problem. No world class bike-sharing city has this law.”

Councilman Greenfield, who said it is not his intention to curb the bike-share program, says no matter, just build a kiosk beside bike stations with helmets inside. “They’re adjustable,” he said. Well, only so much.

And DOT counters that any bike share user gets a coupon for a discounted helmet at local bike shops and can even call 311 for a free helmet, something the department has done for the past five years, handing out thousands in the process. To claim the city is anti-helmet is not exactly correct.

“I think everything is a balance,” Councilman Greenfield said. “But public safety has to come first.” Whether a bike helmet does that, is the question.

Sorry, South Brooklyn, Uptown. You'll have to wait. (Google Maps/NYC DOT)

Despite nascent fears of out-of-control teens and flying Dutchmen, New Yorkers are eagerly awaiting the city's bike share program according to a new Quinnipiac poll, which found that 64 percent of city dweller favor bike share compared to 30 percent opposed.

Now, Gothamites can find out if there will be a Citi Bike station on their corner, as the city's Department of Transportation has just unveiled the preliminary map for its new 600-station, 10,000-bike strong bike sharing network.

The Observer cannot quite walk out our door and hop on one of the new bright blue rigs, but there is a station one block north and south of our offices, an arrangement that seems to be the norm for a system stretching from 60th Street to Atlantic Avenue. These bikes will be everywhere.

Well, unless you're a townhouse dweller.In the first phase of the project, set to go live this summer, there will be no bikes on the Upper East or West Sides, Harlem, or Brooklyn's brownstone belt, as DOT's map shows. Sorry Park Slope, there will be no rides through Prospect Park. These neighborhoods will have to wait until the spring, when a full roll out of the system commences.

The first phase will consist of 420 locations, which the Department of Transportation stresses were created in close consultation with local community boards. Queens sees a number of stations, as well as Manhattan and Brooklyn, which was not initially part of the plan, but local demand led to the Long Island City and Astoria being included. The project will cost nothing to tax payers, thanks to a sponsorship through Citibank (that is, if you ignore the multi-billion-dollar bailout of the Wall Street firm).

"I'm extremely proud to release this plan for the Citi Bike network," Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said in an email. "New Yorkers created this plan during the past six months, contributing time and expertise in workshops, on-line and in dozens of meetings to discuss and plan the City's newest transportation system."

While New Yorkers may favor the new bikes, they do not want anymore lanes to convey themselves and others on. According to the Quinnipiac poll, 51 percent of New York City voters said they do not want any more bike lanes in their neighborhood, compared to 45 percent who do. Not suprisingly, Manhattan wants lanes more than any other borough, with 52 percent in favor and 42 percent against. The Bronx follows 51 percent to 46 percent in favor.

Brooklyn, despite it's burgeoning bohemian character, comes in last, behind Queens and Staten Island, with 54 percent against and 42 percent for. Maybe this is just because hipsters never register to vote, and that is the base upon which the Q-poll was conducted. Whatever the case, not only will they hurt the president's chances but also those who want to see Citi Bikes in their neighborhood, no doubt. Talk about irony!

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

The NYPD has been criticized for its uneasy relationship with the city's cyclists. As this video from Fox 5 shows, the apple does not fall far from the tree, as Greg Kelly grills DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan for what one might expect to be a celebratory interview about the city's new bikeshare program. Instead of a helmet, the commissioner should have brought a pair of boxing gloves.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC