Aw ni bara*
And welcome to this newsletter.
It's where I (John Surico) talk each month about cities & all their discontents: streets, environment, energy, cultures, people, food, form, etc. This month, we cover:
- Scenes from Paris;
- Bike-share BTS;
- Shared mobility costs;
& much, much more.
French dispatch
Greetings from la Ville de Paris, where my partner and I have had the privilege of temporarily relocating to until summer’s end. We’re staying in the 5th(éme) arrondissement, home to the Sorbonne, the city’s botanic garden, and so much more. (It is a joy, to say the least.) And it’s given us a front-row seat to a city that, I’d argue, has transformed more than any other in the modern era, with the 2024 Summer Olympics an exercise—amongst many others—in absorbing millions of people into that changed urban fabric, practically overnight.
Much ink has been spilled over the legacy of Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who is celebrating a decade in power this year. By measure of sheer speed, she has been the boldest urban leader in our lifetime, and seeing her biggest imprint—that on street life—has been breathtaking. It’s not just the bike lanes and school streets, but the added greenery, the public amenities, the re-circulation of traffic in the city center, and just, in general, the focus on livability so essential in our post-pandemic days. Hidalgo once said that she wanted Paris to be a place “where you can let go of your child’s hand” without worry. And there are multiple moments per diem where I literally watch that statement proved true.
Paris is not without faults, of course. Like most global capitals, it faces the great crisis of affordability. It’s segregated, in many ways. (France also banned hijabs for athletes in the Olympics, a sign of the country’s curdled racism.) Its waterways are still polluted, and its roads still see violence. And boy, is it policed. The Olympics have this uncanny ability of exposing these divides, and this one is no different. I reported on the intense security in place that turned the Seine into a fortress for a few days in New York Magazine’s Curbed. Which was jarring, not only because of how central the river is to the city, but also, how far Paris had come in mobility for it all to fall backward, if only for a moment.
Still, though, organizers set out to host the most urban Games in history, starting with a opening ceremony that was beautifully en place. And now that they’re underway, that has been achieved, with the city clocking a comfortable rhythm. People are watching the Games on screens set up in select parks and public plazas, with wine and baguettes; the transit systems are busy but humming; the brave are swimming in the canals; and security has calmed in recent days, returning the energy so inherent to the city back to its streets. It’s easy to forget that the Games are even going on at times. And that, to me, is due in large part to the attention paid at a granular level to make Paris enjoyable to all.
Pitch perfect
One of the biggest catch-22s in journalism is getting published: you need clips to get clips. This conundrum often leaves students in a tough spot, because they lack written proof of their efficacy to show editors who have to first trust them to deliver. As someone who was in this position once, I remember it felt impossible to build a portfolio, or to even know where to start. It’s like being asked by someone to cook, but they refuse to give you the recipe.
Figuring out how to bridge that gap has long been a shared mission of my own as well as Whitney Dangerfield, NYU Journalism’s publications director, who works tirelessly to get students bylines. So we co-created a summer course called “Newsroom: From Pitch to Publish,” which was all about getting published. And after its inaugural run, I’m happy to report its success.
We had ten stories published by eight students, with three more accepted by outlets, totaling 13 in production. And they covered a range of topics. One student reported on the regular flooding near where she lives, and also, the crush of the India-Pakistan cricket match at local bars. Another visited the Punk Island music festival. For Pride, a student attended a movie screening, and another covered a group of queer cathedral composers. There was parade coverage on the Filipino Independence Day Parade and the first-ever Puerto Rican Day Parade on the Lower East Side. Another student visited a Rangers bar on the eve of playoffs, and then spent the night at one of the city’s few remaining 24-hour diners. And another measured how damn loud the subway is.
All that’s to say: clips were had. And the students rocked it.
Gear change
About a year ago this time, Citi Bike was struggling for air.
America’s largest bike-share system was a hot maintenance mess—at stations, bikes would be found either offline entirely, or, if functional, they’d have squeaky brakes, seats that suddenly fell while riding, or keyed QR codes. The growing share of e-bikes ran on batteries that sometimes died without warning or never activated at all, which renders them twice as heavy to pedal. (For real.) Then the new CEO of Lyft, the ride-share giant that owns Citi Bike and other major bike-share systems, said some head-scratching stuff about the bikes secretly being a conduit for more cars. It was a strange time. Citi Bike celebrated ten years in New York City with more questions about the next ten than the last.
What was so wild, though, was that people were still taking them in record numbers, despite all that. So this was, in the end, the story of a system trying its mightiest to keep up with a city who loved it so much, it actually hurt. Curious myself–a proud Citi Bike fob carrier—I reported on that paradox for Curbed then. And in the process, I learned all about the vast operation underway, often behind the scenes, to keep this two-wheeled engine chugging 365, eight days a week.
A year later, Citi Bike was back in the news, but with better headlines. For one, thanks to greater headcount and smarter operations, the service has improved immensely. Stretching further into four of the five boroughs, the system is now averaging almost 170,000 daily rides, and it seems on track to hit 200,000 by year’s end. There are 10,000 more bikes in the fleet than last year, most of which are electric, after a city-issue cap on their share was lifted. And finally, after years of talking about it, Citi Bike has installed two of its first-ever charging stations, which will make it easier to electrify rides.
In a print exclusive for New York Magazine, I was invited to peek underneath the hood (or gears?) of the Citi Bike machine—from its warehouses, with its crews, and on the streets themselves. Here’s what I found.
OSA: En route
I’m going to keep this section short this month, since I’m waving at 31st Ave from afar until September. But leaving readers with some visual reminders that even if conditions aren’t the most ideal (as our block prepares for its bike boulevard makeover!), the public still wants its space.
Bright Side: Share supreme
Bare with me, folks, but I’m going to stay on this theme just a bit longer. This month, we found out from a new NACTO report that Citi Bike isn’t alone. In 2023, the shared bike and e-scooter markets in the U.S. and Canada together saw 157 million rides, the highest total ever recorded, surpassing bars set before the pandemic. These systems, which continue to transform the way we get around cities in modern times, are more popular than ever before.
Reactivating Vélib’—a network that competes for the title of largest with Citi Bike and ones in China—was one of the first things I did when I got to Paris. And I’ve taken the dockless Lime e-bikes, too. They’re not only one of the easiest ways to get around, but also, what everyone else is doing. And that sort of societal acceptance, which we see everyday when everyone from finance bros talking deals with AirPods on to teens somehow stacked two a piece on non-existent pegs are spotted riding them, has helped fuel their surge. (Physical infrastructure, like protected lanes, also helps, too.)
But that comes with a caveat*: watch the price tag. I was admittedly quite frustrated when Citi Bike announced that they’d be raising their prices shortly after my story went live, citing many of the operational hurdles I wrote about as the reasons why. The Limes that Angela and I took for a 12-minute ride over the Seine cost us 5 euros a pop, which would be about two rides on the Metro each. Vélib’ is a bit better, especially if you sign up for a subscription. But still, these devices, no matter how addictive they are, have a cost problem—and those economics will have to be figured out, or else growth isn’t a guarantee.
On the Radar
I stocked up the other sections this month, so promise I’ll be back with some recommendations in August.
Streetbeat Gig Board
Help activate Manhattan’s West 103rd Open Street as its programming and communications manager. (New York, NY)
CultureHouse, the super neat pop-up placemaking outfit, is hiring a community manager. (Somerville, MA + remote)
The transit wizards at NACTO are looking for a new program associate for policy to join them. (Remote, U.S.)
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