CITYWIDE — NEW YORK CITY has chosen a vendor for its plan to roll out secure bike parking at 500 sites, selecting mobility firm Tranzito to build and operate the new network, city Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced Monday. Contract negotiations are underway following a 2024 Request For Proposals but have not been finalized.
With daily bike trips topping 600,000, officials say protected, weather-proof storage will allow New Yorkers who lack in-home space or can’t carry e-bikes upstairs to own bikes. The system will mix small and high-capacity units – curbside and off-street – with options for cargo bikes and potential e-bike charging. Locations across all five boroughs will be prioritized near transit hubs and dense residential areas, DOT said.
The selection of Tranzito is bad news for a Brooklyn man, Shabazz Stuart, founder of the company Oonee, who has advocated for the idea to install secure bike pods at transit hubs across the city for more than a decade. Oonee opened Brooklyn’s first public Oonee Pod near Barclay’s Center in 2019, the Brooklyn Eagle reported.
Stuart told Gothamist that city officials never responded to a proposal he submitted last year. “We’ve been told to drop dead by the DOT,” he said. DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone told Gothamist, however, that Tranzito scored the highest based on metrics including total costs, how a company would run the program, its track record and resources.
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