Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 137 posts

Re: ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

#41

Post by wtvanhest »

AkThhhpppt wrote: post #39
jellicle wrote: post #27

I love the idea, but it's doomed to failure. I live in a city with a bike-sharing system. It's deeply unprofitable and exists only at the sufferance of the city government. There are a number of flaws. Number 1 is that people who ride bikes don't rent them, they own them. For $100 anyone can purchase a bicycle that will last indefinitely and be available 24/7/365. Number 2 is that people vandalize the shit out of bic…

Counterpoints: http://en.velib.paris.fr/ http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14808.aspx http://www.citybikes.se/en/ http://www.dublinbikes.ie/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bixi

And Hubway in Boston and other cities.

Re: ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

#42

Post by john-n »

AkThhhpppt wrote: post #39
jellicle wrote: post #27

I love the idea, but it's doomed to failure. I live in a city with a bike-sharing system. It's deeply unprofitable and exists only at the sufferance of the city government. There are a number of flaws. Number 1 is that people who ride bikes don't rent them, they own them. For $100 anyone can purchase a bicycle that will last indefinitely and be available 24/7/365. Number 2 is that people vandalize the shit out of bic…

Counterpoints: http://en.velib.paris.fr/ http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14808.aspx http://www.citybikes.se/en/ http://www.dublinbikes.ie/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bixi

Dublin bikes is a huge success, but is heavily subsidised by a private firm in return for advertising space around the city, along with some local government investment.

Re: ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

#43

Post by kennon »

jellicle wrote: post #27

I love the idea, but it's doomed to failure. I live in a city with a bike-sharing system. It's deeply unprofitable and exists only at the sufferance of the city government. There are a number of flaws. Number 1 is that people who ride bikes don't rent them, they own them. For $100 anyone can purchase a bicycle that will last indefinitely and be available 24/7/365. Number 2 is that people vandalize the shit out of bic…

Despite owning my own bike, I have considered signing up for DC's bikeshare program (havent pulled the trigger yet; just moved here). A couple advantages for me:

  - I don't have to worry about my own (rather nice) bike getting stolen
  - I don't have to lug around a lock+chain for short trips.
  - I'm not stuck with my bike if I use another means for the return trip 
    (e.g., going to a bar, then cabbing home or hitching a ride)
The main negative, aside from the subscription fee, is that the bikes supposedly weigh a ton and are far from smooth rides.

When I first moved here I was amazed by the number of people that use the program. I'm quite curious about the actual municipal cost, though-- especially as a before/after comparison. Also would be interested in other effects. For instance, did it decrease parking woes? Increase public transportation usage? Cause more traffic accidents?

Re: ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

#44

Post by kazevedo »

graeme wrote: post #23
kazevedo wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely true. Redistribution is always a hurdle, though with viaCycle's realtime data, we can do some very cool things with incentives and pricing to help the system balance itself. Bixi takes a lot of parking spots partly because finding space for large stations is difficult. By using existing bike racks, we can often put in bikes without modifying anything. Plus, although parking is lucrative, replacing room for…

Oh, I actually meant via cycle avoids the parking revenue loss. It's a good thing. The pricing incentives idea is awesome. A win for commuters, free marketing for your service, and free labor. Someone would need an account for that, with payment info. Any plans to increase account uptake to serve that purpose?

Ah, got it. Thanks!

We do take payment info on signup. Right now programs are localized so we set up different websites for each, but we hope to link everything together in the future. You can see an example at http://gt.viacycle.com

Re: ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

#45

Post by jgfoot »

jellicle wrote: post #27

I love the idea, but it's doomed to failure. I live in a city with a bike-sharing system. It's deeply unprofitable and exists only at the sufferance of the city government. There are a number of flaws. Number 1 is that people who ride bikes don't rent them, they own them. For $100 anyone can purchase a bicycle that will last indefinitely and be available 24/7/365. Number 2 is that people vandalize the shit out of bic…

I commute to work on bike every day, but I still am a happy member of my city's bike share program. Even though I have a bike locked in the garage under the building, I use bikeshare to go to meetings at other buildings in the city during the day. I would rather that my personal bike remain safe in my office building's guarded garage, rather than parked on the street. Also, heading into a meeting, it takes me 3 seconds to park a bikeshare bike at the station, as opposed to several minutes locking up my personal bike using a U-lock and cable. I know of other regular commuters who switched to using bikeshare for their commutes--the bikes may be slower, but you don't have to worry about maintenance or theft.

Essentially, I pay my membership fee so that someone else bears the risk of owning a bike in a city filled with vandals and thieves. It's a good deal.

Re: ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

#46

Post by kazevedo »

avree wrote: post #26

There's a company doing this peer-to-peer (like Getaround, but for bikes) called Spinlister. https://www.spinlister.com/

Spinlister is awesome. Eventually we hope to use our technology to automate personal bike rentals, just as Getaround does for cars. We'd love to talk to either of them about a partnership!

Re: ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

#47

Post by kazevedo »

codegeek wrote: post #19

About time. In the US, we seriously need more emphasis on bikes and encouraging people to use them for shorter commutes. We either have to drive or walk (mostly). I once met a european lady (from Amsterdam I think) who would not stop talking about how behind the US in terms of bike culture, hardly any bike lanes on roads etc.

Hear hear! Things are changing for the better. Over the last 5 years, bike use has more than tripled in a lot of major cities. Bike sharing has the power to completely transform culture - Boston went from being rated the worst city for biking in the US to one of the top 5 after Hubway's launch.

Re: ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

#48

Post by graeme »

jellicle wrote: post #27

I love the idea, but it's doomed to failure. I live in a city with a bike-sharing system. It's deeply unprofitable and exists only at the sufferance of the city government. There are a number of flaws. Number 1 is that people who ride bikes don't rent them, they own them. For $100 anyone can purchase a bicycle that will last indefinitely and be available 24/7/365. Number 2 is that people vandalize the shit out of bic…

What city are you talking about? Many cities run successful bike-sharing programs, despite vandalism.

I'm in Montreal, and there aren't many bikes with missing parts. There are deflated tired, but that's about it.

It's not profitable domestically yet, but that seems more due to mismanagement than an underlying flaw.

Re: ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

#49

Post by [deleted] »

kennon wrote: post #43
jellicle wrote: post #27

I love the idea, but it's doomed to failure. I live in a city with a bike-sharing system. It's deeply unprofitable and exists only at the sufferance of the city government. There are a number of flaws. Number 1 is that people who ride bikes don't rent them, they own them. For $100 anyone can purchase a bicycle that will last indefinitely and be available 24/7/365. Number 2 is that people vandalize the shit out of bic…

Despite owning my own bike, I have considered signing up for DC's bikeshare program (havent pulled the trigger yet; just moved here). A couple advantages for me: - I don't have to worry about my own (rather nice) bike getting stolen - I don't have to lug around a lock+chain for short trips. - I'm not stuck with my bike if I use another means for the return trip (e.g., going to a bar, then cabbing home or hitching a r…

[deleted]

Re: ViaCycle (YC S12) Is A Zipcar For Bikes, Coming To San Francisco Soon

#50

Post by micheljansen »

jellicle wrote: post #27

I love the idea, but it's doomed to failure. I live in a city with a bike-sharing system. It's deeply unprofitable and exists only at the sufferance of the city government. There are a number of flaws. Number 1 is that people who ride bikes don't rent them, they own them. For $100 anyone can purchase a bicycle that will last indefinitely and be available 24/7/365. Number 2 is that people vandalize the shit out of bic…

I think the success or failure depends on too many factors to just say "It won't work" based on the idea alone.

I remember that just a few years ago (in 2000), Amsterdam aborted a pilot program for public bicycles, because they all got stolen or vandalised [1]. Since 2006 a new nationwide scheme is being operated by the country's largest train company and it's doing great.

I currently live in London and the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, operated by the TFL, is pretty successful. Successful enough to recently get expanded to cover a greater area [2]. It's not just popular with tourists, but also with people who use it to commute to work. I rarely see a bicycle vandalised and you have to be an idiot to steal one.

Some differences that I think make the London bicycles successful, whereas other plans failed:

1. To hire a bike, you need to either rent one on the spot, or become a member. In both cases, you are using a credit or debit card, knowing that you will be charged if the bike gets stolen or vandalised on your watch. They are also linked to your name.

2. Hiring a bike gets progressively expensive as you keep it longer, so you are likely to return it to a docking point sooner rather than later.

3. The bikes are ugly, heavy and instantly recognisable. Not something you'd like to keep home.

4. The bikes are built like tanks. I don't think it's easy to remove things like bicycle seats etc. at all.

5. The scheme only costs slightly over £50 a year. That is how much I pay in maintenance of my own bike.

6. Even if you buy a bike in London, you cannot always park it at your home or workplace. Renting allows you to bike and just park it in a docking station in the city.

The London bike plan also has plenty of problems (no available docking points, AARGH!), but overall it seems to work pretty well. I wouldn't discount the concept altogether.

[1] http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witte_fiets

[2] http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/metro/18137...

Post reply on HN