Bike-Sharing, Promised for Late July, Is Delayed

By MATT FLEGENHEIMER July 16, 2012

Since the spring, New Yorkers were told to save the date — or at least the month.

By late July, city officials said, a long-awaited bike-share program would arrive, adding a new public travel alternative to the city’s streets.

But with only two weeks remaining to accomplish that goal, the city acknowledged on Monday that the program, Citi Bike, would not begin as scheduled. “We’re working on the launch plan and will update the public as soon as we finalize all the details,” said Seth Solomonow, a spokesman for the Transportation Department, who confirmed the program would not begin in July.

After advertising a July start date since the spring, the city had begun to hedge in recent days. On Friday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was asked during a radio interview if he knew when the program would begin. “Not yet, still working, trying to get it done,” he said. “With any big system there’s always things that you’ve got to make sure work before you turn it on. We’re not going to turn it on until it’s ready.”

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