Citi Bike is an old boys club — with men taking more than three-quarters of all trips by members and preferring to ride in some of the most congested areas of Manhattan, a new analysis shows.
Male riders accounted for 76.3 percent of all trips taken by annual members, according to the data analysis by the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation.
The study — which looked at trips from July to December 2013 — found that female riders prefer to hit quiet streets with little traffic, no trucks, and easy access to bridges.
Men are much more likely to pick up a Citi Bike on busy roads near transit hubs such as Penn Station and Grand Central.
They also are more likely to bike on streets with trucks.
“It’s no secret that traffic in Midtown Manhattan is heavy, and women tend to prefer safe routes,” said Sarah Kaufman, digital manager at the NYU Rudin Center.
“I personally wouldn’t want to bike next to a truck, and I bet most safety-minded bikers would not as well.”
The most popular stations for women are on streets on the Lower East Side, like Avenue D and East Eighth Street.
They are also close to the Williamsburg Bridge, which has a protected bike lane.
Residential blocks in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene and Clinton Hill also had smaller gender gaps.
No bike station in the city is dominated by ladies. Men took the majority of trips at every one.
“I just think of men as being more risk-takers, and women are a little more cautious,” said Emily McCoy, 42, who was riding in Manhattan Thursday with her 13-year-old daughter, Rose.
“When I ride with my daughter, I ride strictly on the bike path by the West Side Highway.”
Pilates instructor Mandi Groom, 38, of Murray Hill said she rides a Citi Bike every day, but has noticed a gender difference.
“I don’t see as many women as men,” she said. “I will take a bike from anywhere, but I avoid Times Square and the area around Macy’s because there are so many tourists.”
Other American bike-share programs have more even gender balances. In Washington, DC, 45 percent of Capital Bike Share riders are female.
But in London, bike-share users are mostly men.
MaryAnn Hu, an actress from Westchester, said she hopes more women sign up for the program, which is millions of dollars in debt.
“My Citi Bike usage for me is the great combination of getting exercise while being eco-friendly, green, and saving money on subways and taxis,” she said.