Lyft Follows Uber Into Bike-Sharing Lane, Buying Owner of CitiBike • Hacker News Board

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

#151

Post by vertex-four » Tue, Jul 03, 2018, 1:23 PM UTC

drb91 wrote: post #135

madeofpalk wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, and people smoke week or break the speed limit despite the legality.

Err, why is it illegal? They're more than fast enough to keep up with bike traffic in the city, especially if there are dedicated lanes.

Basically, the laws say that your vehicle must be licensed to be used on a road unless it’s a bicycle/pedal assist bike/a few other categories, and there’s no mechanism for licensing some of the newer transport options. The laws also say that a vehicle can’t be used on the pavement at all, so there’s no way they can be used on a public road at all.

And have you ever seen a picture of most British cities - there’s barely enough room for cars and pedestrians sometimes, never mind a whole separate lane for cyclists/etc.

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

#152

Post by TheCoelacanth » Tue, Jul 03, 2018, 2:23 PM UTC

jsemrau wrote: post #129

ams6110 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Copenhagen in the summer is about 75° F and fairly low humidity. Ok for a comfortable cycle to work. Many midwest American cities reach mid 90's temp and high humidity. If you cycle to work you'll need a shower when you get there, assuming you don't get heatstroke on the way. Cycling is not viable transportation in many areas, and you can't cherry pick a place like Copenhagen and use that to support a claim that it w…

You could argue that in winter its getting below 40 in Copenhagen and in you midwest American cities it might not?

The midwest has some of the coldest winters of any region of the US because it doesn't have the ocean nearby to moderate temperatures. Most of the midwest would spend most or all of December, January and February well below 40 degrees.

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

#153

Post by CydeWeys » Tue, Jul 03, 2018, 3:20 PM UTC

vthallam wrote: post #110

CydeWeys wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They haven't launched here. We barely even have dockless bikeshares (and even then they're not allowed in the exclusive Citibike coverage area). We're a rough regulatory environment.

It sucks to be in the largest city and yet could not try the scooters or electric bikes. I think it makes more sense for NYC to have them and would be a great way to avoid subway for like 2 miles.

NYC is also the most densely packed city in the US. There are places in the city where the sidewalks get so dense during commute/tourist hours that people cannot fit, pushing pedestrians out into the streets and bike lanes. 8th Ave north of Penn Station at 5:30pm is a prime example of this.

There's simply no room to have lots of discarded dockless bikes/scooters in such an environment where there isn't even enough room to walk, and they would be treated poorly. Docks/exclusion zones for the most congested foot traffic areas are necessary.

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

#154

Post by robotmay » Tue, Jul 03, 2018, 3:44 PM UTC

rocketpastsix wrote: post #142

robotmay wrote: post #114

We had a bike rental system launch in Cardiff very recently, run by NextBike. It has been a massive success, and fills a pretty gaping hole in our city's transportation. Cardiff is basically entirely flat, and has a few separate parts (like Cardiff Bay) which are a not-inconsiderable walk away, as well as a strangely awkward train journey. It's a city pretty well known for being easy to walk everywhere, but the bikes…

Your mix of past and present tense makes me wonder if the bike share is still in Cardiff or not.

I'm not sure where the problem is, where I'm using past tense it's for events that happened in the past. The system can be current but have been launched in the past.

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

#155

Post by rhinoceraptor » Tue, Jul 03, 2018, 4:36 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #124

torpidor wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you're missing is that bikes, and especially ebikes, are far more viable for transport than most Americans think. In Copenhagen for example bikes are actually the primary mode of transport, outnumbering cars on the roads. Bikes are literally the fastest way to get around in many places. There are a number of reasons it doesn't work well in the States, but broadly it boils down to a) fitness levels, and b) cultur…

Copenhagen in the summer is about 75° F and fairly low humidity. Ok for a comfortable cycle to work. Many midwest American cities reach mid 90's temp and high humidity. If you cycle to work you'll need a shower when you get there, assuming you don't get heatstroke on the way. Cycling is not viable transportation in many areas, and you can't cherry pick a place like Copenhagen and use that to support a claim that it w…

Commuting by bike is still doable in the 90s. You need a rack/basket on your bike so you don't have anything on your back, and you can't ride hard so you don't sweat as much.

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

#156

Post by stevekemp » Wed, Jul 04, 2018, 2:47 AM UTC

Symbiote wrote: post #123

stevekemp wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This way the two systems can work together That's the way it works in Helsinki. In the summer docks appear, stocked with bicycles. If you look on the local transport-company website you can see a realtime map of the trams, busses, and the number of bikes available at each dock-site. For example on the following map you can see the number of bikes available near my house: https://www.reittiopas.fi/pysakit/HSL:116040…

> the other side of the road That seems rather limiting. Here in Copenhagen, I don't know any GB/AU/NZ/etc people who can ride a bike but choose not to. I cycled from the airport to the city centre on my first day here... It perhaps helps that I'm from SE England, so about once a year my dad would drive the car to (or through) France without a fuss. Helsinki looks very green, I must plan a visit.

Helsinki is very green in the summer!

I'm exaggerating a little, but I know that the few times I've borrowed a bike from a friend to ride along a cycle-path my instictive reaction is always to turn the wrong way when going round corners/junctions/cross-roads.

Throw cars, trams, and buses into the mix? Well I think I'd have to be concentrating more than usual which makes me a little less keen. No doubt I'll relax over time.

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

#157

Post by deminature » Sat, Jul 07, 2018, 12:22 AM UTC

shmerl wrote: post #140

deminature wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dockless bikes are getting rolled out to non-Citibike service areas: https://ny.curbed.com/2018/5/24/17389414/nyc-dockless-bike-s...

Interesting, but 200 bikes sounds like a drop in the ocean. How will it actually work without docking?

I think it’s just a trial to see if it’s chaos, and they’ll increase if not. The dockless bikes I’m familiar with from SF require you to bolt the bike to an unbranded city bike rack to end the trip. They also have the advantage of pedal assist, so it’s not terribly taxing to ride long distances or up hills.