Monday represented the culmination of years of work by Mr. Bloomberg and his transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, to promote the use of bicycles in the city.

WSJ: Bike Share Gets Rolling Across New York City

In the French Concession, the city's most popular residential district, bicycles and scooters careen through the winding tree-canopied streets, holding such new buzz boites as Dr. Wine and The Apartment.

WSJ: An Insider's Guide to Shanghai | Journal Concierge

Some 1, 000 bicycles were available for rent from the City Hall.

BBC: News | Europe | Off the roads

Barclays has made about 5, 000 traditional bicycles available at hundreds of docking stations throughout the city, which makes it a more convenient option than Hertz's mere dozen e-bikes at a single location.

BBC: Rent an electric bike in London

Images of people on the move in bicycles, airplanes, and pubic transportation dot the New City and attempt to harness what urban means in contemporary society.

FORBES: BMW Documentary Series: Activate the Future

Estimates of the numbers of people who partake each week vary from one million to two million, and the city fills with mountain bikes, road bikes, fold-up bicycles and children on training bikes.

BBC: Reclaiming the streets in Bogota