I am a zealous citibike convert here in NYC and I'll take one over a taxi any day but I think there's a systematic error in these numbers. I assume the taxi ti

I am a zealous citibike convert here in NYC and I'll take one over a taxi any day but I think there's a systematic error in these numbers. I assume the taxi times are pickup to drop-off (ie encompasses the entire trip) while bike are station to station so there is walking time that's not accounted for on either end of the bike trip. There are times where the nearest station doesn't have bikes or free docks so the walk may be non trivia and add up to more than the 5 minutes median difference for cross town. On the other hand sometimes it takes a while to catch a cab and that's not included in the data either so perhaps it averages out. The author is right, bikes are great for reducing variability (on the bike you can get around most obstruction, even if it means walking the bike on a sidewalk for a quarter of a block while the taxi gets stuck) The one advice I disagree with is taking the bike when the President is in town. Trump was here last week for the UN and with all the street closures, detours and crazed drivers, biking was much more dangerous than usual.