Apple Pay now accepted by Citi Bike bicycle sharing service

The latest version of Citi Bike's iOS app features Apple Pay integration for fast and easy in-app payments, an important consideration for user adoption.

With support for Apple's payments solution, frequent users of the service, or tourists visiting the area, can quickly select a pass or membership, click the Apple Pay button and reserve a bike.

Like other bike sharing services, Citi Bike stations are located in well-trafficked ares of NYC and New Jersey. Using a color-coded map built into the iOS app, customers can find a nearby station, check real-time bike and dock availability, and, if the location supports it, reserve a ride. Stations can also be saved for quick retrieval.

Beyond bike sharing nuts and bolts, the app comes with value-added features like recent ride stats, including start and stop location, ride time, distance and even calories burned. Push notifications on iOS display a current ride timer to avoid overtime fees, as well as an alert informing users that they have successfully docked their bike.

Citi Bike launched in 2013 as NYC's official bike share system and has since become the largest in the country. Sponsored by Citibank, with "Preferred Payment Partner" MasterCard, the service offers access to hundreds of thousands of specially designed bikes through a network of hundreds of docking stations across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Jersey City. Available 24 hours a day, Citi Bike is an eco-friendly, and cost-effective, alternative to motor transportation.

Citi Bike for iOS version 6.0 is a free download from the iOS App Store.