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Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

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Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#111

Post by jessriedel »

cgati wrote: post #92
jessriedel wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> some bikes experiencing too strong a braking force on the front wheel Was that actually confirmed or just alleged?

They said as much in an email to subscribers of the service (of which I am one.) That said, I do understand there will be skepticism around the nature and timing of pulling the fleet. They did send out a survey in October of 2018 asking for feedback on the e-bikes and I do specifically remember a question asking if respondents would be willing to pay more for e-bike access. Take that for what you will.

Thanks. (I was actually wondering if the customers were just overreacting more than I was wondering if Ford was looking for cover.)

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#112

Post by deepakhj »

vajaya wrote: post #97
woodruffw wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My 0.02c as a Citi Bike (NYC's bikeshare) subscriber: I wouldn't be surprised if there's a modest profit to be made in bike sharing, at least in NYC. I know quite a few people with a yearly subscription (either personally or via their employer), and I would consider paying for one personally now that I've experienced their convenience. I don't know how much money Citi Bike/Motivate actually makes here, although AFAIK…

I don't have their unit economy data, but I'm still (stubbornly) skeptical of the profitability of bike sharing. One reason is the market depth, in the sense that most of the time it's just young, educated and often bourgeois people in metropolis, which is a tiny proportion of people, who ride bike for purposes other than recreational.

Here’s some numbers that contradict that.

“According to more than 1,600 participants who responded to the survey, 60% of San Diego Lime riders identify as Hispanic and 54% report an annual household income of $50,000 or less. Additionally, 1 in 4 Lime riders are 36 years old or older, with an average age of 31, and 16.5% of them have previously served or are currently serving in the US military.”

https://www.li.me/second-street/more-diversity-less-car-use-...

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#113

Post by vkou »

kjksf wrote: post #23
diebeforei485 wrote: post #2

After Lyft/GoBike removed all their electric bikes, SFMTA decided to expand dockless bikeshare so people can continue to commute by bikeshare. But Lyft decided to sue instead: https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/7/18657312/lyft-bike-share-l...

As is their right. The city fucked up hugely by making an exclusive deal with Ford/Motive (acquired by Lyft). If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at SF government. The rule of law means that you don't get to change contracts you've signed. It was a bad contract but SF Government does many bad things, like repressive zoning and banning scooters. Go vote them out of the office.

> The rule of law means that you don't get to change contracts you've signed.

Actually, contracts get broken all the time, and the only recourse you can get for that sort of thing is a lawsuit.

This is by design.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#114

Post by delfinom »

kjksf wrote: post #23
diebeforei485 wrote: post #2

After Lyft/GoBike removed all their electric bikes, SFMTA decided to expand dockless bikeshare so people can continue to commute by bikeshare. But Lyft decided to sue instead: https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/7/18657312/lyft-bike-share-l...

As is their right. The city fucked up hugely by making an exclusive deal with Ford/Motive (acquired by Lyft). If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at SF government. The rule of law means that you don't get to change contracts you've signed. It was a bad contract but SF Government does many bad things, like repressive zoning and banning scooters. Go vote them out of the office.

>The rule of law means that you don't get to change contracts you've signed.

Technically you can if you wrote a clause allowing it or other conditionals. But we don't know the full contract and it's up to a judge to interpret it seems.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#115

Post by gamblor956 »

untog wrote: post #60
jMyles wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I agree that the city has the moral authority to grant a monopoly on such a concept. I like Lyft just fine and I especially applaud their efforts to expand into ebike-to-transit. But I also have a little trouble feeling sorry for a company that feels it has suffered a loss because its out-and-out regulatory capture scheme didn't pan out as successfully as it hoped.

You don't really have to feel sorry for them, you just have to recognise that they are entitled to what their contract says they are. If you're against an exclusivity agreement (which actually makes a lot of sense when establishing a transportation network) then your complaint should be with the government, not Lyft.

You don't have to feel sorry for Lyft, you just have to recognize that they got what they were entitled to what their contract says they were.

The exclusive right to use public property and the public right of way to operate a bikeshare.

Sidewalks are not public property--they are private property subject to public easements. Ergo, any other bikeshare may legitimately use sidewalks to operate their bikeshares.

BAM. Disruption. Who would have thought that other companies could play the same game Lyft did?

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#116

Post by resonantjacket5 »

woodruffw wrote: post #108
jonas21 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing the "young, educated, bourgeois" demographic is the early adopter of most new technologies. If you wrote off everything that was primarily used by that demographic in its early days, you'd have missed out on the personal computer, mobile phones, digital photography, and many other things that are widespread today.

> If you wrote off everything that was primarily used by that demographic in its early days, you'd have missed out on the personal computer, mobile phones, digital photography, and many other things that are widespread today. Not writing off! I'm in that demographic. But let's call a spade a spade. That being said, I think there's a substantial difference between PCs/cellphones/digital photography and bikesharing: th…

They are quite useful when you're getting off at a bus/train station and need to travel the last mile.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#117

Post by thatfrenchguy »

g_sch wrote: post #90
vajaya wrote: post #81

I wonder why bike sharing is still a thing in business world. Hasn't this business venture been proved to be a fiasco in China, where user base is larger in magnitude, operation cost is residual and virtually no regulation friction, compared to the u.s.? Why do lyft, uber and others think it is viable(profitable) in the u.s.? Another thing beyond me is although the business model/development of this kind seems to be…

I think bikeshare programs have been very successful in cities where they are monopolies and partially run by cities. My experiences with bikeshares in NYC, London, Hamburg, Berlin, and DC have all been great. The places where they have become nuisances are largely those that have been flooded with multiple competing (usually dockless) systems, because it turns out that you don't need a large capital investment to cr…

I absolutely don’t understand why cities let their streets be literred for free by dockless bikes. I really hope at least the politicians involved got a kickback :-/.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#118

Post by nneonneo »

vajaya wrote: post #81

I wonder why bike sharing is still a thing in business world. Hasn't this business venture been proved to be a fiasco in China, where user base is larger in magnitude, operation cost is residual and virtually no regulation friction, compared to the u.s.? Why do lyft, uber and others think it is viable(profitable) in the u.s.? Another thing beyond me is although the business model/development of this kind seems to be…

Bike sharing is still a thing in China, but they’ve definitely scaled it back. It was getting a little out of hand with hundreds of yellow bikes per city block, half of which were broken, littering the streets. The newer generation of bikes are also more robust, making it less likely for the bike to be unusable. On a recent trip to Beijing I still saw a healthy number of people riding the shareable bikes.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#119

Post by gnopgnip »

vajaya wrote: post #81

I wonder why bike sharing is still a thing in business world. Hasn't this business venture been proved to be a fiasco in China, where user base is larger in magnitude, operation cost is residual and virtually no regulation friction, compared to the u.s.? Why do lyft, uber and others think it is viable(profitable) in the u.s.? Another thing beyond me is although the business model/development of this kind seems to be…

People in the US have more disposable income. In some cases there is less competition in the US.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#120

Post by throwaway66666 »

vajaya wrote: post #81

I wonder why bike sharing is still a thing in business world. Hasn't this business venture been proved to be a fiasco in China, where user base is larger in magnitude, operation cost is residual and virtually no regulation friction, compared to the u.s.? Why do lyft, uber and others think it is viable(profitable) in the u.s.? Another thing beyond me is although the business model/development of this kind seems to be…

Without knowing the actual logistics, just speaking as a user. I see bike sharing being somewhat popular where I currently live (SF -- mostly JUMP bikes. Not sure about GoBike, the bright red jump branding is too "eye-grabbing" to ignore). I have no idea if it can be profitable or not, but as an end user it is a nice option to have!

Maybe lyft wants to use it to strengthen their brand perception. They have bikes too = they are environmental friendly! Also play the marketing illusion that they are everywhere, as essentially people will be moving around the city riding lyft branded bikes.

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