Since Citi Bike launched in late May, the number of complaints about America’s largest bike-share system have decreased sharply—even as ridership increased

Updated August 23, 2013, 10:17 p.m. ET

Bike-Share Complaints Drop, for Now

Calls to City’s 311 Line Fall Sharply Even as Ridership Shoots Up

DEREK KRAVITZ

When Citi Bike launched during the last five days of May, users called 311 an average of 17 times a day to complain about malfunctioning stations, app glitches and other kinks, according to city data. But since then, the number of complaints about the nation’s largest bike-share system have decreased sharply—even as ridership increased, according to city data.In June, the first full month of the program, the city received 323 calls, or an average of nearly 11 calls a day. In July, that number fell to a total of 115 calls, or nearly four calls a day. And through Aug. 23, the number of calls this month was 73, or roughly three calls a day, according to the city Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, which runs 311.

The August average represents an 81% drop from the average number of calls in May, the data show.

City officials call this a success, saying New Yorkers are getting used to Citi Bikes and that there are fewer glitches than at the start of the program.

“People call up 311 for everything, especially to complain, so the numbers can give a good idea on how prevalent an issue is,” said Nicholas Sbordone, a spokesman for Doitt.

But the 311 data alone paint an incomplete picture of how many people complain about—or praise—Citi Bike, and why.

The decrease in 311 complaints could be caused, at least in part, by more cyclists calling Citi Bike’s customer-service hotline directly, at 1-855-BIKE-311, experts said. The number is staffed by the private company that oversees and maintains the Citi Bike program, NYC Bike Share.

That phone number is included on all 332 Citi Bike stations and on all 6,000 bikes—not the city’s general 311 number. But the DOT, along with NYC Bike Share, has refused to release any information regarding complaints to 1-855-BIKE-311.

“I have a feeling that the decrease is due partly to people becoming more familiar with Citi Bike’s call center,” said Paul DeMaio, who helped develop Capital Bikeshare in Washington, which runs on the same hardware as Citi Bike. “It’s a new transit service and there’s going to be hitches and quirks and all that fun stuff.”

Scott Gastel, a DOT spokesman, said service calls are appropriately forwarded to NYC Bike Share, which has made “any necessary repairs during the course of business.” He did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the city’s 311 data. A spokeswoman for Alta Bicycle Share, the Portland, Ore.-based company that operates NYC Bike Share, declined to comment.

At the Penn Station Citi Bike station, which ranks as one of the busiest hubs, most morning commuters on Friday reported few problems. The biggest hitch of the past workweek, they said, is that usually just one or two bikes out of a possible 59 are available after 8 a.m. Citi Bike then has to ship bikes to the station to meet demand.

When there is a problem, though, cyclists seem inclined to use 1-855-BIKE-311—the number printed on the station and bikes—instead of 311. That’s what Robert Sylvester, a 40-year-old accountant who lives in Hell’s Kitchen, did recently.

Mr. Sylvester, who rents a Citi Bike at least once a day to get to work, mostly has praise for the system. “It’s convenient, it’s fast and I’ve probably saved money on subway fare at least two or three times over,” he said.

But on Friday morning, Mr. Sylvester struggled to unlock a bike from its docking station at West 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue. His keycard, which is part of his $95 yearly membership and is used to unlock the bikes, didn’t work.

“I ran the other day with it in my pocket and it got waterlogged,” he said.

Even though Mr. Sylvester said he knew of the city’s 311 call system, he planned to call 1-855-BIKE-311 instead because the number was posted on the station.

Still, the number of complaints to the general 311 line is encouraging for Citi Bike. As complaints decrease, riders increase: The first five days of Citi Bike saw bikers take 40,524 trips. To date, riders have taken roughly 2.4 million trips.