For me, it was the kind of story that I couldn't believe when I first heard it, three nights ago. But once it "sank in," I wasn't surprised.
After all, bikes from share programs have ended up in exotic faraway places, at the bottoms of rivers and canals or in "chop shops." Theft and vandalism killed the bike share program in Rome and nearly did so in other cities.
But the way a Citibike in my home town met its demise--and disrupted transit service in my neighborhood--took aggression against public bike programs to a new level.
At the Steinway Street station--which is the second-closest subway stop to my apartment--someone tossed one of the blue share bikes onto the tracks.
It just happened that two trains, traveling in opposite directions, entered the station. Whether or not it was the vandal's intention, the bike landed in just the right spot for both trains to hit it, or parts of it.
Here's the result:
Was the vandal's intention to "blow up" Citibike--or the subway system?
