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Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

nytimes.com

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Re: Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

#51

Post by madeofpalk »

aventrix wrote: post #33
madeofpalk wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worth noting that those Bird and Lime scooters are illegal in some countries, like the UK. Bird cannot expand to the UK without laws changing (which I'm sure there's plenty of lobbying going on to ensure).

Can you elaborate on the legality? In what way are they illegal?

They're illegal in the same way that if you sticking four wheels on a fridge and driving it down the street is also illegal. They're not road worthy, and you can't use them on footpaths in the same way you can't cycle on footpaths.

Re: Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

#52

Post by bjackman »

Spivak wrote: post #37

Can someone explain the economics of services like this? I just get the feeling that these bike-sharing services are running on a good sales pitch and a market which seems obvious but isn't really there. There are probably four or five competing services in my city and yet I have never actually seen a single person actually riding them. There are certainly people riding bikes but it's always their own bike. Complicat…

I have been using a bike sharing service for a couple of months. I'm a cyclist anyway but am temporarily without a bike of my own. It's very convenient.

> There's a pretty narrow window between a distance that's too far to walk but impractical to hire a car.

This just isn't true in denser European-style cities. If you live centrally, everything is about 30-45 walk away. It's uncomfortable to walk but comfortable to cycle.

> Everyone except literally the current user of a dockless bike is going to hate them so you're limited to where the company has docking stations. They're going to be the fastest vandalized property

No particular argument against it except the fact that I've seen the product in action and nobody hates it.

> Anyone who's actually into riding bikes will just buy one

True but there's also a lot of value in a bike that you dont have to maintain, store, or bring home. You can ride out and taxi home. You can ride downhill and taxi back up.

> Technically you're not guaranteed a bike back from wherever you go

This is true, it basically limits the user base to centrally-based people (you can always find a bike in the centre of town) and so probably means it's only a viable product in some cities.

In summary the product is a trade-off against other modes of transport, but it definitely has its place and seems to be working in quite a few cities.

PS finally it's just the cheapest way for an individual to travel, by a long way. For lots of people a nearly £5 return bus journey is a concern and the reduction to £2 (in the particular case of my city) is a really meaningful saving. Taxis and ride-sharing probably aren't even on those people's radar.

Re: Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

#53

Post by jaredsohn »

lhorie wrote: post #26
jaredsohn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>in SF for tourism a few years ago, it was a complete non-starter That's intentional - http://www.sfexaminer.com/transportation-officials-halt-fund...

FWIW, it was also extremely restricted when I used it in Toronto. Coverage only went as far as middle of Korean Town, meaning you couldn't use it to go to, say, High Park. For commuting it was an even sillier proposition, because the coverage overlapped with the densest subway/bus grid in the city, and it was not much cheaper per month than a subway pass, unless you got a groupon for it.

It would be nice if there was more coverage but they have been expanding in the Bay Area over the past year.

It is around $150 a year in the Bay Area right now which makes it very economical if you can take the bike instead of the subway or a bus (i.e. just replace six bus trips per month.)

Re: Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

#54

Post by karthikb »

majormajor wrote: post #45
Tiktaalik wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree. With permanent, known stations, a dock system can be more easily integrated into the existing public transportation network. This way the two systems can work together, and make the transportation of the region more efficient in general. These bike share startups should honestly all be to some degree folded into the public transportation network in general. It should be a mid to long term goal for buse…

"Point to point" is a huge part of the appeal of cars over the existing public transportation network. We dedicate a ton of space to enabling point to point for cars, and barely any for bike docks and the like. Dockless scooters are the most effective thing I've seen yet - in very limited areas, so far - at starting to combat the limitations of the public transit network compared to the road/sidewalk/parking lot netw…

And yet in a congested city, the closest car parking may be 2-3 blocks. Not a huge advantage over bike docks.

Re: Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

#55

Post by NorthOf33rd »

aventrix wrote: post #31
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

E-bikes are motor vehicles and can't be used on bike paths in NY state though they are street legal if registered. NYC park police actively ticket E-bikes on the west side.

Do you know if the restrictions apply to the electronically assisted "e-bikes". They pretty much operate like a normal bike, but require minimal effort to go up hills. Example: https://www.limebike.com/electric-assist-bike

ebikes are pedal assist bikes. If there is no pedal assist, and the motor can be activated with a throttle, then it's an e-motorcycle.

Re: Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

#56

Post by usaar333 »

pj_mukh wrote: post #29
aventrix wrote: post #5

How does the popularity of bikes compare to electric scooters? Anecdotally, I see a lot more Bird and Lime S scooters flying around than I do bicycles these days - and we do have docked bicycle and Lime bikes and Ofo options available in my city. Having tried many of these services, I find the electric scooters to be the most enjoyable, although the electric bikes are quite fun too and can be a better experience if y…

For me, it breaks down to: 0-2miles - Scooters (or walk), 2-5miles - Electric Bikes (or Uber), 5-15miles - Uber/Lyft It is a nice little transportation stack Uber and Lyft are fighting over.

Why do you find that electric bikes work better for longer trips?

Re: Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

#57

Post by ndespres »

Spivak wrote: post #37

Can someone explain the economics of services like this? I just get the feeling that these bike-sharing services are running on a good sales pitch and a market which seems obvious but isn't really there. There are probably four or five competing services in my city and yet I have never actually seen a single person actually riding them. There are certainly people riding bikes but it's always their own bike. Complicat…

I've been a CitiBike member in NYC since launch. I moved out of the city and lugging my bicycle on public transportation for the "last mile" to my office was a hassle. Being able to grab a shared bicycle close to my train station and take it to work, and back again, is really nice. I don't think car ride sharing is "super cheap" compared to a yearly membership for unlimited bicycle use (or a $3/30 minute single-use ride), especially when factoring in all the other costs of having another car on the road. I don't know what city you live in, but in NYC close to 100k trips are logged PER DAY.

I'm not going to hit every one of your points but would also like to add that 95% of the time, the bikes are in great shape and well-maintained. I don't know if that's due to a lack of vandalism, or regular maintenance, or both. I've logged hundreds of trips myself and only a few times have I had a broken bicycle.

Re: Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

#58

Post by zethraeus »

madeofpalk wrote: post #51
aventrix wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on the legality? In what way are they illegal?

They're illegal in the same way that if you sticking four wheels on a fridge and driving it down the street is also illegal. They're not road worthy, and you can't use them on footpaths in the same way you can't cycle on footpaths.

FWIW I was just in london and saw a bunch of people riding their own Mi scooters in the street. (That's the same scooter Bird uses.)

Re: Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

#59

Post by ndespres »

tunap wrote: post #27
aventrix wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a quiet war brewing between city councils and dockless bike companies. It's tough to say whether cities will embrace a dockless bike/scooter future, or if they will ultimately ban the companies from operation, leaving a market for docked bikes to remain.

Quiet, perhaps, but visually egregious. Lime bikes are seen daily abandoned and often lying on sidewalks, on grass, in fields & even on street curbs.

In my city, cars are parked everywhere, on the sides of every road, on sidewalks sometimes, now THAT is egregious!

Re: Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike

#60

Post by usaar333 »

dpflan wrote: post #4

Integration of services into one app would be a great experience. You could more effectively plan your route which may include a step of getting onto a bike or scooter before, between, or after a car(s). If that could be integrated into a single "experience", and then you add subscription, users' concept of movement around a city is now much smoother (fewer authorizing clicks).

Agreed. I'd personally rather see better integration being transit and bike share. "Taxi" + bike isn't that common, but either pair well with public transit.
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