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

131–137 of 137 posts

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

#131

Post by lucaspiller »

In the past I've used the government funded hire schemes in London and Dublin extensively and have had good experiences with them. I know how much they cost, so I'm happy to see an alternative.

The only issue I see with this is that it looks particularly easy to remove their locking system. It uses a chain lock, so what is to stop me from "locking" it without putting the chain through the wheel? From there is looks easy to remove their hardware with a spanner as it seems to just be attached to the pannier rack mounting points.

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

#132

Post by micheljansen »

smalter wrote: post #55
micheljansen wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Heh, the cure sounds worse than the disease. "Make the bikes so unpleasant that no will want to steal them (or use them)." I agree that there is room for creativity here. There are so many things to try. For instance, I noticed that ViaCycle seems to be piloting on college campuses. Might it be possible to put docking stations _inside_ of academic buildings, requiring a college ID swipe to get in, and possibly being…

You are misunderstanding. The bikes are not at all unpleasant to ride (although they are quite heavy, they also feel very sturdy and resilient to all road conditions). They would however be very unpleasant to steal and own, because they are too different from normal bikes. It would be a pain in the ass to park them in the city or service them at home and everyone would recognise it as an out of place rental bike.

By the way, stashing bikes behind locked doors is actually what the "OV-fiets" plan in The Netherlands is doing (they are more like lockers, really: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PeUfIZbrzY4/Ti8hHZCsLyI/AAAAAAAAAE...), and it works quite well. As a bonus, you can also rent those lockers for your own bike.

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

#133

Post by jrockway »

Evbn wrote: post #126
jrockway wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I work in Manhattan and live right by the Brooklyn Bridge, so I think the tourists will take care of this problem for me.

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

#134

Post by nasmorn »

jellicle wrote: post #78
graeme wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Montreal has the same system (Bixi), with exactly the same sturdy features as the London system. Some local management issues aside, the system is running quite smoothly. It's a stretch to say "This will never work!" when something already is working, and avoiding the specific issues complained about.

Montreal Bixi is very, very, very far away from being profitable: http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/03/16/bixi-raising-mon...

One can expect a little bit of taxpayer subsidy in the future, since it is freeing up incredibly valuable road space that in most city centers is a limited resource that can't be expanded.

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

#135

Post by elmarschraml »

Bike-for-hire systems are like public transport: hard to run at a profit, but useful for a city to have. Most systems I know (Velib in Paris, Callabike in Munich) are very popular, but effectively run and subsidized by the government.

ViaCycle does not plant to operate the bikeshare, but providing the bike infrastructure for the operator. Which is a smart move - because a) being the operator is unprofitable and b) operators probably dont want to deal with the bike tech.

I would love to see a standardized, mass-produced bike intended for rent-a-bike services. It's really a different kind of bike - you need excellent protection against vandalism and theft more than sportiness or low weight. Also, each system currently has its own GPS/Phone tracking and hire system. If a company liek ViaCycle provides a cheaper, standardized system, it would probably lower the cost of runing a bike-for-hire system quite a bit.

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

#136

Post by rahulnair23 »

jellicle wrote: post #79
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

Not sure how those are counterpoints, in that they are all deeply unprofitable services provided by large governments that are subsidized to the tune of tens of millions of dollars per year. Maybe you should read my comment again.

Not all bike-sharing schemes have the same model.

For example, DC's capital bikeshare comes from Federal grants that covered the setup costs, while Velib in Paris is entirely operated by JCD, an advertising agency that operates the system in exchange for advertising rights.

Take Velib. Last time I checked, JCD had revenue of $54 million, with an operating expense of roughly $35 million on Velib. The theft and vandalism complaints were regrettably exaggerated when the City and JCD were re-negotiating their contract last year. That they need subsidies to exist is patently false.

Financial aspects of US systems are also healthy as pointed out by other commenters.

On a related note, the subsidies to other modes, mainly rail and roads, are several orders of magnitude higher.

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

#137

Post by syedkarim »

micheljansen wrote: post #50
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…

The best bike sharing program I've seen anywhere is in Copenhagen.

http://ruk.ca/content/how-use-copenhagen-city-bikes/

It's a free system, because the 20 kroner coin that is used to unlock the bike is released when the bike is returned. These bikes have 20-inch wheel, which are non-pneumatic. Single-gear with a coaster brake. And weigh about 50 pounds. Also built like tanks. As a tourist, it increased my enjoyment of the city by a factor of 10.

Post reply on HN