The introduction of similar oBikes in Amsterdam and Rotterdam prompted comments from my friends seeing similar bad behaviour. Meanwhile I live in Montreal, where with the Bixi bikes you need to return them to a station (spread throughout the city) and there's no problem.
As Bike-Sharing Brings Out Bad Manners, China Asks, What’s Wrong with Us?
101–110 of 110 posts
Re: As Bike-Sharing Brings Out Bad Manners, China Asks, What’s Wrong with Us?
#102Let's see what will happen outside China. Then compare them with data :P
Re: As Bike-Sharing Brings Out Bad Manners, China Asks, What’s Wrong with Us?
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course 40km/h does not include traffic, hills, or wind. It is also pretty crucial to have a bike with a racing geometry so that your head is low and air resistance is reduced.
40 km/h is not impossible by any means but as a sustained average speed it takes a special bike and a person with pretty mighty athletic background. Definitely not something for the average commuter. Even 20 km/h sustained for an hour is more than most people can do. I could probably do 40 km/h for 15-30 minutes if I went all-in and had a racing bike. But my commute includes dirt roads and pathways through the forest…
1999 was the first year Tour de France cyclists managed to get 40km/h on average for the whole 3200 km and three weeks long race. According to http://bikecalculator.com/ 40 km/h requires between 260W and 450W from the rider, doing 40 km/h on avarage will be even more extreme.
I've used a good recumbent bicycle and I could actually hold 35 km/h easily in that one, in the same place I usually average 23 km/h upright with an ordinary ~$700 city bike.
Re: As Bike-Sharing Brings Out Bad Manners, China Asks, What’s Wrong with Us?
#104Re: As Bike-Sharing Brings Out Bad Manners, China Asks, What’s Wrong with Us?
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
I occasionally drive up by Point Reyes in California, and on the weekends, Highway 1 near there is a popular cycling route—packs of Lycra-clad cyclists along a narrow 2-lane, winding road with hills on one side and a short cliff to the ocean on the other. You definitely have to be careful passing them, but given that the news is not routinely filled with headlines of "another cyclist plowed down on Hwy 1", I'd disagr…
>packs of Lycra-clad cyclists There is a huge difference in both perceived and actual safety between being part of a large group of bicyclists that occupies a significant fraction of the lane and being a lone bicyclist going along the verge of the road while cars and trucks pass you at 65 mph.
Similar to schools of fish, and maybe flocks of smaller birds.
Re: As Bike-Sharing Brings Out Bad Manners, China Asks, What’s Wrong with Us?
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
> bikes require a credit card to access Many people don't have credit cards (though my information on that is years old; perhaps it's changed?). Doesn't that policy limit access for the people who might need the bikes most?
There's a bit more flexibility on this front with prepaid cards and loadable cards from banks. You can get Visa gift cards in the checkout aisle at most stores which work for most credit card requirements. It's not super convenient but it does allow for people without bank accounts or good credit to participate.
Debit cards and gift cards carry the same branding as and look similar to credit cards, but don't provide many of the same functions. For example, it can be hard to rent a car using a debit card.
A credit card means that the issuer vouches for and will (effectively) underwrite your credit. A debit card means that Visa will process payment if there is sufficient money in your account.
An important question is whether debit cards can be used to rent the bikes, or if the vendors want assurance for liability in addition to immediate payment.
Re: As Bike-Sharing Brings Out Bad Manners, China Asks, What’s Wrong with Us?
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a bit more flexibility on this front with prepaid cards and loadable cards from banks. You can get Visa gift cards in the checkout aisle at most stores which work for most credit card requirements. It's not super convenient but it does allow for people without bank accounts or good credit to participate.
Debit cards and gift cards carry the same branding as and look similar to credit cards, but don't provide many of the same functions. For example, it can be hard to rent a car using a debit card. A credit card means that the issuer vouches for and will (effectively) underwrite your credit. A debit card means that Visa will process payment if there is sufficient money in your account. An important question is whether…
Canadian debit cards run on the Interac system. Generally, they have neither Visa nor Mastercard logos and different numbers. Some don't even have expiration dates because of chip & PIN. This is changing with some banks offering debit cards that can be used online through the credit card networks.
Canadian debit cards would generally not be accepted if they're asking for Visa/Mastercard/Amex.
Re: As Bike-Sharing Brings Out Bad Manners, China Asks, What’s Wrong with Us?
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the US, the majority of streets have at least a lane of space taken up by parking. If half of that was offered to bikes there wouldn't be any bike parking issues.
It's the same in biger cities in France, Eastern Europe, even in Germany, although the Germans are better behaved probably because of huge fines.
In Germany the fines for parking where you aren't allowed to park are something like 10 €, probably much lower than the European average.
Re: As Bike-Sharing Brings Out Bad Manners, China Asks, What’s Wrong with Us?
#109Here in Shenzhen where it is stinking hot all the damn time (we don't get freezing, snowy/sleeted, dust storms or 'normal') and windy/wet some of the time, there's government e-bike stations all about my area. Unfortunately I can't use them because they don't take foreign passport numbers. Otherwise, I would.
I live in Shenzhen and I use Mobike all the time. The biggest obstacle was getting a bank account to pay with. The identity verification process was to take a picture of your passport and a picture of you holding your passport, and then it took half a day for Mobike to verify the information.
Re: As Bike-Sharing Brings Out Bad Manners, China Asks, What’s Wrong with Us?
#110Here in Shenzhen where it is stinking hot all the damn time (we don't get freezing, snowy/sleeted, dust storms or 'normal') and windy/wet some of the time, there's government e-bike stations all about my area. Unfortunately I can't use them because they don't take foreign passport numbers. Otherwise, I would.
I live in Shenzhen and I use Mobike all the time. The biggest obstacle was getting a bank account to pay with. The identity verification process was to take a picture of your passport and a picture of you holding your passport, and then it took half a day for Mobike to verify the information.
Mobike != government system.