New York Nerds Sift Citi Bike Data to Solve Availability

Each morning, New York commuters who use the nation’s largest cycle-sharing system face a question that decides whether the workday begins in disappointment or with a smooth glide: Will any Citi Bikes be available?

A cadre of data vigilantes, including as many as 80 software engineers, analysts and urban planners, work in their free time to make the answer yes. Without help from the city Transportation Department, they crunch numbers at meetings held by the nonprofit Code for America, analyzing patterns of ridership for the cobalt two-wheelers sponsored by Citigroup Inc. Their tables are lined with laptops -- and sometimes beer.