NYU Study: Citi Bike More Popular Among Men Than Women

As Citi Bike struggles to come up with funds, New York City’s bike share program may just find its savior in marketing power. Turns out, more men than women use the service in the city, according to a new study by NYU’s Rudin Center for Transportation.

Those findings are consistent with citywide statistics on female riders overall as a Hunter College study from February found that 78 percent of the city’s cyclists are men. In its study, NYU reported that women comprise less than 24 percent of Citi Bike riders.

The main disparity appears to be perceived safety. In New York, women tend to stick to the less-trafficked, quieter streets of Brooklyn Heights, Gothamist reported, while most men make trips from busier Midtown Manhattan.

Women tended to be safer riders, as they were more likely than men to wear helmets and follow traffic signals, the NYU study showed. They chose stations with “fewer lanes of traffic, more limited truck traffic, and fewer collision-based cyclist injuries in recent memory.” Men, on the other hand, most often chose stations with “more traffic, some truck traffic, some collision-based cyclist injuries, and, typically, connectivity to major transit hubs.”

While the average risk of serious injury among bike commuters in NYC dropped by 73 percent from 2000 to 2011, this study shows many women are still skeptical. To encourage biking in the city, and boost Citi Bike’s cash flow, making streets safer could be key.