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

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

#121

Post by koji »

felix_faber wrote: post #114
kazevedo wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely! Dynamic pricing is something we're really excited about. It's still a young idea, but even large systems like Velib have implemented simple incentives for people who ride against traffic flow. Since our bikes always know where they are, we can be much more proactive about balancing each system. Edit: a few of us did graduate transportation research as well, your work sounds cool. Is it published anywhere?

I'm writing my master's thesis on exactly that topic. http://control.ee.ethz.ch/index.cgi?page=sada;action=details... a) a heuristic for optimal routing of repositioning trucks based on anticipated (uncertain) future demand. b) dynamic pricing using a model predictive control approach (receding horizon optimization on a model of customer reaction to (price) incentives). Insanely cool stuff. And its working. A paper s…

Let us know when it comes out! We'd love to give it a read.

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

#122

Post by artsrc »

rprasad wrote: post #98
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 see what you did there, citing 3-year old articles on the start-up problems of then-brand new bike services. Of course, as you can see from other comments, those bike services no longer have those problems, and appear to even be quite successful. It's sort of like the difference between Groupon 3 years ago and Groupon today, but in reverse. I hate the idea of promoting cycling (roads are for cars, not bikes), but t…

> roads are for cars, not bikes

I agree roads are mostly designed with only cars in mind.

That sounds like a bug, not a feature.

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

#123

Post by jarek »

rprasad wrote: post #98
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 see what you did there, citing 3-year old articles on the start-up problems of then-brand new bike services. Of course, as you can see from other comments, those bike services no longer have those problems, and appear to even be quite successful. It's sort of like the difference between Groupon 3 years ago and Groupon today, but in reverse. I hate the idea of promoting cycling (roads are for cars, not bikes), but t…

> (roads are for cars, not bikes)

That's one of the reasons cyclists prefer streets over roads :)

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

#124

Post by jrockway »

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…

Number 1 is that people who ride bikes don't rent them, they own them.

I own several bicycles, but if I don't ride one to work, I can't ride one home. Due to my schedule, I often don't ride to work in the morning, but I would gladly ride home. A bike sharing program solves that problem. $20 a month? Well worth it.

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

#125

Post by Evbn »

john-n wrote: post #42
AkThhhpppt wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If they are paying for ads, it is a subsidy? No one says Google is subsidized by AdWords customers.

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

#126

Post by Evbn »

jrockway wrote: post #124
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…

Number 1 is that people who ride bikes don't rent them, they own them. I own several bicycles, but if I don't ride one to work, I can't ride one home. Due to my schedule, I often don't ride to work in the morning, but I would gladly ride home. A bike sharing program solves that problem. $20 a month? Well worth it.

I hope someone lives near you and likes to bike to work but not home. Otherwise all these bikes will pool in gravity wells.

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

#127

Post by Evbn »

mahyarm wrote: post #95
jellicle wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you check out a bike, and it disappears, you're responsible for it. So instead of a $100 headache, you now have a $1500 headache. You do avoid maintenance costs, of course. Which are $0/year for many bicyclists.

These things are self locking, so you release it as soon as you leave it unattended and are not liable anymore. If you had to look for a docking station, it would be not practical. How does zipcar handle car theft?

Zipcar buys insurance and GPS/cellular tracking devices.

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

#128

Post by Evbn »

orang55 wrote: post #104

Yes, the cost of installing a Bixi-like system is fairly expensive. However, when you're talking about transportation systems, Bikesharing is an absolute steal. Repaving a city street costs $338,000 per mile. A city bus costs anywhere from $500-750,000. Subway cars and commuter railcars run in the range of $2 million each . A 15-dock bikesharing station plus 8 bikes costs as much as a Lexus. http://www.capitalbikesha…

If you make cities livable, suburbs become obsolete (or densify into cities)

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

#130

Post by thomasrynne »

kazevedo wrote: post #80
extraio wrote: post #3

I'm wondering what happens when someone gets hit by a car and complains that the bike didn't include a helmet. Don't get me wrong. I love the idea in every way, shape, and form - but I have serious questions about the legal safety issues.

Helmet use is an issue we take very seriously. Fortunately, safety has been excellent for US programs, but we try to make sure everyone has access to the right equipment and education. We do require users to sign a waiver saying they understand the risks. Ultimately, it comes down to culture - grabbing a helmet needs to become as natural as putting on your seatbelt or grabbing your coat.

Grabbing a helmet isn't like wearing a seat belt. The most a helmet does is reduce minor injuries. There's no evidence that they save lives.
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