To examine ridership over time, data from May 2018, May 2019, and May 2020 were examined. May data were examined because the month of May typically comes with warmer weather and a return to outside. The years 2018, 2019, and 2020 were examined to capture times before covid, at the start of covid, and during covid. Given the change in workforce and the increase in remote work, it was thought that ridership characteristics were likely to change during this time period.
Data on 5,237,163 rides were examined. Analyses can be seen at this site.
As can be seen in the first panel of data ("Rides over time, Comparing May 2018, May 2019, May 2020"), the type of rider changed during this timeframe. Although there was an increase in both subscriber and customer rides between May 2018 and May 2019, subscriber rides decreased between May 2019 and May 2020, while customer rides increased. The increase in customer rides may be due to reluctance to take public transportation. The decrease in customer rides may have been due to an increase in remote work. The target audience of Citi-Bike may have changed during this time period, with people unable to do remote work being increasingly likely to try out Citi-Bike.
Because of the comparatively small number of customer rides, with respect to subscriber rides, the percentage-wise increase in customer rides from May 2018 to May 2020 (which can be seen in the bottom graph) is noteworthy.
As can be seen in the second panel of data ("Time and distance of rides"), subscribers and customers take different kinds of rides. Subscribers typically take shorter (with respect to both time and distance) rides. This should be kept in mind if the type of rider continues to change with time.
As can be seen in the second panel of data ("Timing of rides"), rides most frequently occur during rush hour during the week. On weekends, rides peak in the mid to late afternoon hours.
As can be seen in the last two panels of data ("Location of rides, station list" and "Location of rides, map"), most rides begin and end at stations in midtown Manhattan. However, it should be noted that between May 2018 and May 2020, ridership did spread out. Specifically, one of the top ten stations in May 2020 was in Brooklyn. This was not the case in May 2018 or May 2019.
- With the increase in ridership among customers during covid, it may make sense to do targeted advertising on subways and other public transportation during times of the flu or increases in covid numbers.
- With the increase in ridership during rush hour, it may make sense to do targeted advertising about how Citi-Bike can help people avoid both illness and crowds during rush hour.
- With the spread of the top ten bike stations for originating and ending rides from 2018 to 2020, it may make sense to continue to expand stations to areas beyond Manhattan.