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Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

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Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#121

Post by thezilch »

ebikelaw wrote: post #108
alangibson wrote: post #82

I'm currently sitting in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. One of the first things you notice when you get here is that there are not bike lanes, not bike paths but very seriously bike roads on either side of the street. These are filled pretty much all the time by people of all ages on their personal bikes. There are no rental bikes anywhere. The moral of this story is that if you want people to bike, build bikeable citi…

Bike shares are great even if you have a great bicycling city. I myself am a Very Serious Cyclists, more than 200 miles per week, and I still use the bike share at least weekly. Just today I had to take my car to the shop, then I took a train to another place and there was a Lime Bike so I jumped on that and went to my destination. I have no idea why people complain about bike shares, dockless or docked.

They get piled up against buildings. They exacerbate the problem that many US roads have no place for cyclists, and alternatively, cyclists incorrectly will use sidewalks. All said, in the current state, more cycling is creating a bigger problem and not solving the hard ones.

Cycling is awesome. Let's fix how they coexist on roads.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#122

Post by arstin »

alangibson wrote: post #82

I'm currently sitting in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. One of the first things you notice when you get here is that there are not bike lanes, not bike paths but very seriously bike roads on either side of the street. These are filled pretty much all the time by people of all ages on their personal bikes. There are no rental bikes anywhere. The moral of this story is that if you want people to bike, build bikeable citi…

I'm an avid biker, and I also make heavy use of my city's shared bike program. I go more miles on my own bikes, but I ride shared bikes more often.

I think you're overlooking many significant use cases for shared bikes. Here's a few: - It's well below freezing out and you just want to quickly get from your apartment to the train station, drop the bike off and forget about it. - You won't be returning to that station to pick the bike back up later. - Bike to the grocery store. Walk back carrying several big bags. - Take the train into work in the morning, bike back when you have more time or energy. - Getting from one point to another where a cab would be overkill but walking take too long. - You want to bike to places, but don't want to deal with lugging your bike up 5 flights of stairs several times a day or don't have room to store it if you do.

The summary is that shared bikes let you ride in situations which you normally wouldn't. (And of course for many casual riders it can easily be their only bike.)

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#123

Post by dawhizkid »

thiagocsf wrote: post #99
alangibson wrote: post #82

I'm currently sitting in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. One of the first things you notice when you get here is that there are not bike lanes, not bike paths but very seriously bike roads on either side of the street. These are filled pretty much all the time by people of all ages on their personal bikes. There are no rental bikes anywhere. The moral of this story is that if you want people to bike, build bikeable citi…

I am in the city of Sydney, where no less than 4 dockless bike rental companies started operating overnight. They have become urban clutter. Users park them in locations where they’re easily knocked over and, from there, they usually get damaged. There’s also a very high incidence of vandalism. Bikes with no seats, no pedals, bent wheels, on top of trees, in canals. It’s common to see heaps of scrap bikes on the road…

You have to lock Jump bikes to bike racks after use and are liable if you do not and it gets stolen, so it's "semi-dockless" in that sense and unlike other bike sharing companies.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#124

Post by thiagocsf »

kolpa wrote: post #106
thiagocsf wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am in the city of Sydney, where no less than 4 dockless bike rental companies started operating overnight. They have become urban clutter. Users park them in locations where they’re easily knocked over and, from there, they usually get damaged. There’s also a very high incidence of vandalism. Bikes with no seats, no pedals, bent wheels, on top of trees, in canals. It’s common to see heaps of scrap bikes on the road…

That's a valid opinon but surely the same applies to roads, covered with heaps of scrap cars and car parts?

Cars need to pay tax to be on public roads, which then is used for maintenance costs.

These bikes are using public land for free.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#125

Post by alangibson »

pinot wrote: post #95
alangibson wrote: post #82

I'm currently sitting in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. One of the first things you notice when you get here is that there are not bike lanes, not bike paths but very seriously bike roads on either side of the street. These are filled pretty much all the time by people of all ages on their personal bikes. There are no rental bikes anywhere. The moral of this story is that if you want people to bike, build bikeable citi…

OK we will start over.

There used to be no sidewalks. Streets were for people and the occasional horse. Then Henry Ford started making cars. Let's all be glad that we didn't decide to just let pedestrians be mowed down by cars because hey man it's just too hard to start over

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#126

Post by Pxtl »

thiagocsf wrote: post #124
kolpa wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a valid opinon but surely the same applies to roads, covered with heaps of scrap cars and car parts?

Cars need to pay tax to be on public roads, which then is used for maintenance costs. These bikes are using public land for free.

US roads are paid for by income and property tax dollars. Gas taxes and fees barely put a dent in the TCO of the roadway.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#127

Post by ebikelaw »

thezilch wrote: post #121
ebikelaw wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bike shares are great even if you have a great bicycling city. I myself am a Very Serious Cyclists, more than 200 miles per week, and I still use the bike share at least weekly. Just today I had to take my car to the shop, then I took a train to another place and there was a Lime Bike so I jumped on that and went to my destination. I have no idea why people complain about bike shares, dockless or docked.

They get piled up against buildings. They exacerbate the problem that many US roads have no place for cyclists, and alternatively, cyclists incorrectly will use sidewalks. All said, in the current state, more cycling is creating a bigger problem and not solving the hard ones. Cycling is awesome. Let's fix how they coexist on roads.

Literally nobody has ever been killed by a shared bike ridden improperly upon a sidewalk. Meanwhile people are killed every day by cars on sidewalks, and we're all headed for extinction from climate change caused by cars no matter how operated. Don't tell me I am supposed to care about the infinitesimal imaginary harm of someone who chooses a bicycle, especially if that person would have normally chosen a car.

As for "piled up against buildings" just give me a break already. https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&source=hp&q=car+crash... The aesthetic argument is by far the stupidest argument against bike shares.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#128

Post by codereflection »

We need to be aware of the problem that's happening in China with bike sharing [1]. There is a large saturation problem. Ofo seems to be one of the main contributors to the issue. In Seattle it seems like I see more and more Ofo bikes on the side of the road, and rarely do I see anyone riding them.

[1] http://time.com/5218323/china-bicycles-sharing-economy/

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#129

Post by Pxtl »

SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #120
woolvalley wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dockless jump bikes seemed to be locked to something. I think it's a requirement for riders to lock them after use, and so far, they haven't been cluttering SF. Maybe that is the compromise. No docks, but have to be locked to some sort of normal bike rack to prevent clutter. The manufacturer / city isn't responsible for maintaining expensive dock infrastructure where company A cant use company B's docks, and apar…

Do they have the same problem other bike rental companies have had in SF where users ride them to the bottom of the hills where they just stack up?

Most cities aren't as hilly as SF.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#130

Post by BoorishBears »

ebikelaw wrote: post #108
alangibson wrote: post #82

I'm currently sitting in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. One of the first things you notice when you get here is that there are not bike lanes, not bike paths but very seriously bike roads on either side of the street. These are filled pretty much all the time by people of all ages on their personal bikes. There are no rental bikes anywhere. The moral of this story is that if you want people to bike, build bikeable citi…

Bike shares are great even if you have a great bicycling city. I myself am a Very Serious Cyclists, more than 200 miles per week, and I still use the bike share at least weekly. Just today I had to take my car to the shop, then I took a train to another place and there was a Lime Bike so I jumped on that and went to my destination. I have no idea why people complain about bike shares, dockless or docked.

>I have no idea why people complain about bike shares, dockless or docked.

You like the bike shares you’ve used, or you don’t know why people complain?

Because if it’s the latter, the main reason is they can easily become a nuisance:

https://www.twitter.com/hashtag/DocklessBikeFail

People abuse them, and when/if the programs fail you end up with stories like this:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/25/chinas-bike-...

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