US mobile phone subscriptions per 100 peopleCiti Bike annual trips (NYC)
Between 2013 and 2022 New York added more Citi Bike trips each year while America added more mobile phone subscriptions per capita, and the two have climbed together (r = 0.958) with the companionable coordination of two infrastructures built to handle the same person. The commuter pedals with one hand and holds the phone with the other; statistically, that is actually what happened.
Citi Bike trips grew from about 5 million in its launch year 2013 to over 35 million by 2022, after expanding into Queens, the Bronx, Jersey City, and parts of Hoboken; US mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people rose from about 96 to over 110, reflecting both the normalization of a second line (watch, tablet) and the IoT creep of cellular modems into cars and equipment. Both are stories of one kind of always-on infrastructure layered on top of another, and both now seem so obvious that the pre-2013 New York commute feels like a distinct historical era.
A bike unlocks with a tap. A phone stays in one hand, through the ride. The city moves at several speeds at once.
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Want to learn more about why correlations like “US mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people” vs “Citi Bike annual trips (NYC)” don't prove causation? Read our guide to statistical thinking.
