Citi Bike Pulls New Electric Bikes Off Streets, Citing Safety Concerns - The New York Times

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A month ago, Jordan Wyckoff was riding an electric Citi Bike to work in Brooklyn when he slammed on the brakes to avoid a minivan that swerved in the bike lane. But when he hit the brakes, the front wheel locked up, sending Mr. Wyckoff over the front of the handlebars and onto the pavement.

The same thing happened to Dominik Glodzik when he tried to brake before a stop sign in Astoria, Queens about two months ago.

William Turton flipped over the front of an electric Citi Bike while trying to brake before an intersection on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn.

In recent months, dozens of riders have reported injuries while riding electric Citi Bikes, prompting the company on Sunday to pull all of the approximately 1,000 electric bicycles from New York City’s streets amid safety concerns about the brakes. Lyft, which owns Citi Bike, took similar precautions with its other bike-sharing services in Washington and San Francisco.

“We recently received a small number of reports from riders who experienced stronger than expected braking force on the front wheel,” the company said in a statement on its website. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively removing the pedal-assist bikes from service for the time being. We know this is disappointing to the many people who love the current experience — but reliability and safety come first.”

Lyft said it is working with its suppliers to understand the problem, while also working on a new electric-bike model that will be available soon. In the meantime, standard bikes will be installed to replace the pedal-assist bikes, the company said, noting it does not expect a service interruption.

Citi Bike had expected to have 4,000 electric bikes on the street by June. The bikes first arrived in New York in August, after the city approved new rules on electric bikes. The motor on the bikes, which require a rider to pedal to activate, can reach a maximum speed of about 18 miles per hour, a Lyft spokeswoman said. The city continues to ban throttle-controlled bikes, which are favored by delivery workers and can travel faster than 20 miles per hour.

In November 2018, Lyft, which began trading publicly on the stock market two weeks ago at an overall valuation of more than $24 billion, bought Motivate, the largest bike-share company in the United States.

Motivate operates Capital Bikeshare in Washington, Ford GoBike in San Francisco, among other companies across the country. A spokeswoman for Lyft said the electric bikes were only available in New York, Washington and San Francisco.

“The safety of New Yorkers is D.O.T.’s top priority,” Scott Gastel, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Transportation, said in a statement. “We expect Lyft to maintain a safe and fully operational fleet providing sufficient service and we will monitor as they investigate the cause of this brake issue.”

Citi Bike, which arrived in New York in 2013, has become an increasingly popular mode of transportation, with more than 145,000 members. On Sunday, avid users of the electric bikes expressed disappointment about their removal. Even some riders who were injured said they had used the electric bikes after crashes.

“It’s honestly tragic,” said Mr. Turton — in spite of his close call in Brooklyn two weeks ago. “I’ve been commiserating with my friends today who are also electric-bike enthusiasts.”

Mr. Turton said the electric bikes had cut his commute time in half.

Mr. Turton thought the crash he was involved in was his fault until he received an email from Citi Bike on Sunday morning that said the company was suspending the electric bikes because of issues with the brakes.

Marco Conner, the interim executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a bicycling advocacy organization, applauded Lyft for taking a proactive step in addressing potential safety issues before there were any deaths. Still, he added that he is looking forward to safe electric bikes returning to the streets in the near future.

“E-bikes have been shown to replace car trips, and in New York City where the average car trip is about 2 miles long, bike share and e-bikes are a great alternative to replace those short trips,” he said. “When you decide to take a bike trip instead of a car, you’re not putting your fellow New Yorkers in danger.”

Follow Tyler Pager on Twitter: @tylerpager.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/nyregion/citi-bike-electric.html

2019-04-15 07:00:05Z
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Europe markets mixed amid optimism over US-China trade talks; Publicis up 2% - CNBC

European markets were higher on Monday morning with investors reacting to acquisition news and developments in U.S.-China trade talks.

The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 index was flat with major bourses and sectors pointing in different directions.

Market focus is largely attuned to corporate earnings, with several companies set to release their first-quarter results this week. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs report their numbers Monday with banking stocks in Europe up by nearly 1 percent in anticipation.

Advertising group Publicis' shares rose by 2% after news of a $4.4 billion takeover of marketing and data company Epsilon. Meanwhile, Norsk Hydro shares rose by nearly 4% after Brazil's public prosecutor made moves to lift a production embargo in the country,

Meanwhile, investors continue to monitor developments in the U.S.-China trade talks. Over the weekend, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he was hopeful the talks would soon come to a close. He said Saturday that a U.S.-China trade deal would go "way beyond" previous agreements between the two nations, and that the two sides were "close to the final round" of negotiations, Reuters reported.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/15/european-markets-set-to-open-higher-as-us-china-trade-talks-near-end.html

2019-04-15 07:25:43Z
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Stratolaunch, the world's widest aircraft, takes off on its first flight - International Flight Network

Scaled Systems' Stratolaunch on the runway at Mojave Air and Space Port. Photo: Robert Sullivan

Stratolaunch, the world’s largest aircraft type by wingspan, has taken off on its maiden flight on Saturday.

Following years of development, the six-engine and dual-fuselage jet finally took off for the first time ever from Mojave Air and Space Port in California, USA, at 6:58 am local time. The flight lasted for about two and a half hours, in which it reached an altitude of 17,000 ft (5182 m) and a maximum speed of 189 mp/h (304 km/h), according to Stratolaunch Systems.

The aircraft has a wingspan of 385 ft (117 m) and a length of 238 ft (73 m). It features six Pratt & Whitney PW4056 turbofan engines, a similar type to those being used on the Airbus A300, Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 767.

The aircraft taking off from Mojave, California. Photo: © Stratolaunch Systems

Stratolaunch was developed by Northrop Grumman division Scaled Composites for Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, a company founded in 2011 by American billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen. Stratolaunch Systems plans to use the aircraft to launch air-to-space rockets with a weight of up to 500,000 lb (226,796 kg).

Today’s flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground launched systems. We are incredibly proud of the Stratolaunch team, today’s flight crew, our partners at Northrup Grumman’s Scaled Composites and the Mojave Air and Space Port.Jean Floyd, CEO of Stratolaunch

The company is currently developing four different rocket systems, which can be launched to space from the center wing part of the aircraft. First launch tests are planned for 2020, featuring a smaller rocket with a payload of up to 816 lb (370 kg).

Aviation journalist from Germany. Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.

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2019-04-15 05:55:49Z
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Opinion: Trump is showing the world how not to run a central bank - The Globe and Mail

When the Bank of Canada went looking to fill a vacant spot on its policy-making governing council in 2018, it hired a global executive recruiter and posted a long list of qualifications.

The bank said the candidate must have “deep and extensive knowledge” of macroeconomics, monetary theory, financial markets and the payments system, along with experience designing and using large macroeconomic models, plus a track record as a good manager, communicator and analyst. Oh, and they should be able to speak both official languages.

Contrast that to U.S. President Donald Trump, who went with his gut in tapping former pizza chain boss Herman Cain to sit on the U.S. Federal Reserve.

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“He’s a friend of mine. He’s somebody who gets it,” Mr. Trump told reporters.

After a five-month search, the Bank of Canada quietly hired respected University of British Columbia macroeconomist Paul Beaudry last December.

Mr. Cain’s bid to join the Fed isn’t going nearly as smoothly as opposition grows to Mr. Trump’s ill-considered choice, even among Republicans.

The U.S. Senate, which must confirm top Fed officials, may well do the right thing. More worrying is that Mr. Cain, with no background in economics or finance, was ever in the running.

Mr. Trump’s claim that Mr. Cain “gets it” points to what the President really wants: a loyal partisan committed to keeping the U.S. economy jacked up on easy money just long enough to get him re-elected next year.

The danger is that Mr. Cain’s controversial candidacy is a diversion, calculated to deflect attention from Mr. Trump’s other choice to fill one of two vacancies on the Fed – libertarian economist Stephen Moore – or to make subsequent nominees seem more suitable.

Like Mr. Cain, nothing in Mr. Moore’s background suggests he’s Fed-ready. Don’t look for deep knowledge of macroeconomic models and monetary theory on his résumé. Mr. Moore has spent his career devoted to TV punditry, Republican principles of low taxes and small government, and more recently, to Mr. Trump. His views on the Fed have conveniently shifted depending on who is in the White House. When Barack Obama was president, he warned repeatedly about the dangers of keeping rates low for long. With the economy running even hotter after Mr. Trump’s election, he shifted to calling for rate cuts. As Harvard University economist Greg Mankiw, a former economic adviser to U.S. president George W. Bush, put it in a recent blog post: Mr. Moore lacks the “intellectual gravitas” for the job.

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Rejecting Mr. Cain should be a no-brainer. He has faced several credible allegations of sexual harassment, which helped derail a run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. His economic ideas are on the fringes, including advocating a return to the gold standard and a dangerously regressive tax overhaul at a time of growing inequality. And he has peddled conspiracies about the government faking economic statistics – the same ones the Fed uses to steer monetary policy. He also set up a political fund that raised money for Mr. Trump’s favoured candidates in last year’s midterm elections, and he’s been a reliable cheerleader for the President on his online radio show.

Mr. Trump, of course, is just fine with that. What he wants is someone – anyone – who will get the Fed and its chairman, Jerome Powell, to do what he wants.

There is no law that says members of the Federal Open Market Committee must park their political views at the door. But they have, by convention, making the Fed a rarity in hyper-partisan Washington. That has enabled the central bank to go about its business of moving interest rates, taming inflation and regulating financial institutions, largely free of political meddling.

Having loyalists on the inside would pose a threat to the Fed’s independence, opening the door for future presidents to do the same.

Fortunately for Mr. Powell and the Fed, the bank’s structure would keep Mr. Trump’s picks from making too much partisan mischief. They would have just two votes among 12 on the FOMC, which is made up of seven Fed governors and five rotating heads of the regional reserve banks.

Recognizing the gravity of what’s at stake, former Fed chair Janet Yellen warned last week that senators have a responsibility to put “qualified individuals” on the Fed who are committed to central bank independence.

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No doubt Ms. Yellen has in mind candidates a bit more like Bank of Canada deputy governor Paul Beaudry, and less like Mr. Cain or Mr. Moore.

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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-trump-is-showing-the-world-how-not-to-run-a-central-bank/

2019-04-14 21:00:00Z
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Trump renews Federal Reserve attacks amid controversy over his two picks - CNN

"If the Fed had done its job properly, which it has not, the Stock Market would have been up 5000 to 10,000 additional points, and GDP would have been well over 4% instead of 3%...with almost no inflation," Trump tweeted.

He added: "Quantitative tightening was a killer, should have done the exact opposite!"

The comments come amid open Senate opposition to his two picks for open seats on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain and economic commentator Stephen Moore.

Four Republicans said last week they would not vote to confirm Cain, a former Republican presidential candidate who formerly sat on the Kansas City regional Fed board, because of sexual harassment allegations against him. He has denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, Moore, a former Wall Street Journal editorial board member and CNN analyst, has been sharply criticized for reversing his opposition to low interest rates when President Barack Obama was in office.

A CNN KFILE review of speeches and radio interviews by Moore found that he has a history of advocating self-described "radical" views on the economy and government, including supporting the elimination of the corporate and and federal income taxes entirely.

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday called Moore "unqualified and unsuited" for a Fed seat, writing in a letter to Moore that he has "a long history of making wildly inaccurate claims about economic policy that appear to serve political ends."

And while both Moore and Cain's pasts are being scrutinized, Moore has come to Cain's defense, saying Sunday in an interview with Fox News that he believes Cain "is a great choice" for the Fed's board, and calling the businessman's signature 9-9-9 tax plan, which was proposed in 2011 during Cain's presidential run, a "cool plan."

Despite the criticism of the two men, White House advisers have made clear that the President wishes to nominate people who share his economic views. He has repeatedly criticized the Fed, and specifically called out Chairman Jerome Powell -- a Trump nominee -- over rate increases.

Further changes appear to be on hold for now. Last month, Fed officials voted to keep interest rates the same, agreeing to indefinitely stick with an extended pause on rate changes and signaling that the Fed wouldn't hike rates in 2019. The last rate increase came in December.

CNN's Donna Borak, Haley Byrd, Katie Lobosco, Andrew Kaczynski, Paul LeBlanc, Manu Raju and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/14/politics/trump-federal-reserve-attacks-herman-cain-stephen-moore/index.html

2019-04-14 19:09:00Z
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Trump renews Federal Reserve attacks amid controversy over his two picks - CNN

"If the Fed had done its job properly, which it has not, the Stock Market would have been up 5000 to 10,000 additional points, and GDP would have been well over 4% instead of 3%...with almost no inflation," Trump tweeted.

He added: "Quantitative tightening was a killer, should have done the exact opposite!"

The comments come amid open Senate opposition to his two picks for open seats on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain and economic commentator Stephen Moore.

Four Republicans said last week they would not vote to confirm Cain, a former Republican presidential candidate who formerly sat on the Kansas City regional Fed board, because of sexual harassment allegations against him. He has denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, Moore, a former Wall Street Journal editorial board member and CNN analyst, has been sharply criticized for reversing his opposition to low interest rates when President Barack Obama was in office.

A CNN KFILE review of speeches and radio interviews by Moore found that he has a history of advocating self-described "radical" views on the economy and government, including supporting the elimination of the corporate and and federal income taxes entirely.

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday called Moore "unqualified and unsuited" for a Fed seat, writing in a letter to Moore that he has "a long history of making wildly inaccurate claims about economic policy that appear to serve political ends."

But White House advisers have made clear that the President wishes to nominate people who share his economic views. He has repeatedly criticized the Fed, and specifically called out Chairman Jerome Powell -- a Trump nominee -- over rate increases.

Further changes appear to be on hold for now. Last month, Fed officials voted to keep interest rates the same, agreeing to indefinitely stick with an extended pause on rate changes and signaling that the Fed wouldn't hike rates in 2019. The last rate increase came in December.

CNN's Donna Borak, Haley Byrd, Katie Lobosco, Andrew Kaczynski, Paul LeBlanc, Manu Raju and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/14/politics/trump-federal-reserve-attacks-herman-cain-stephen-moore/index.html

2019-04-14 16:42:00Z
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Trump says Federal Reserve is holding back stock market, economy | TheHill - The Hill

President TrumpDonald John TrumpWH spokesman: We're working with DHS, ICE to try to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities Trump says he has legal right to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities Sanders calls on Trump to scrap his trade plan MORE on Sunday said the Federal Reserve has held back the stock market and the economy, claiming that the stock market and GDP would be improved if the Fed "had done its job properly."

Trump claimed the stock market would be "up 5000 to 10,000 additional points" and GDP would be "well over" 4 percent.

"If the Fed had done its job properly, which it has not, the Stock Market would have been up 5000 to 10,000 additional points, and GDP would have been well over 4% instead of 3%...with almost no inflation. Quantitative tightening was a killer, should have done the exact opposite!" he tweeted.

If the Fed had done its job properly, which it has not, the Stock Market would have been up 5000 to 10,000 additional points, and GDP would have been well over 4% instead of 3%...with almost no inflation. Quantitative tightening was a killer, should have done the exact opposite!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2019

Trump has previously attacked the Fed on numerous occasions, often criticizing the central bank for raising interest rates.

"Had the Fed not mistakenly raised interest rates, especially since there is very little inflation, and had they not done the ridiculously timed quantitative tightening, the 3.0% GDP, & Stock Market, would have both been much higher & World Markets would be in a better place!" he tweeted at the time. 

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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/438823-trump-says-federal-reserve-is-holding-back-stock-market-economy

2019-04-14 15:53:37Z
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