A New York Times article on Thursday highlighted a lucrative side hustle that is emblematic of the times we live in: using gaming algorithms to make money. In this case, people have found that they can maximize their payouts by leveraging the company’s algorithms used to meet supply and demand needs in Lyft’s Citi Bike “Bike Angels” program.
According to Lyft, the practice of “station flipping,” where one or more Bike Angels move a docked Citi Bike to a nearby empty station, wait for 15 minutes, and then move it back, was discontinued over the summer. The company sent emails to offenders reminding them that earning Bike Angel points through station flipping was against the spirit of the program. “Continuing to station flip may result in your exclusion from the Bike Angel program,” the emails said.
But this practice has continued for so long that some cycling angels are earning thousands of dollars a month.
