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Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

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Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#131

Post by Jonnerz »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #117
g_sch wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :-/.

But it's okay for them to be littered by cars?

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#132

Post by dsfyu404ed »

Jonnerz wrote: post #131
thatfrenchguy wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :-/.

But it's okay for them to be littered by cars?

Cars are ticketed or towed when not left in specifically designated areas.

Nobody is "littering" the streets with cars. You just don't agree with the specifics of how the government has allocated the physical space resources under its control so you see it that way.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#133

Post by g_sch »

2T1Qka0rEiPr wrote: post #126
g_sch wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Just on this - Hamburg in particular has a system where it's free to use for up to 30m for subscribers to the service, which is super cheap. I believe it's run by the local authority, and at such a level its easy to explain why it's much more likely to be economically viable. The state also has to deal with the externalities associated with other forms of transport (traffic, noise, pollution etc.), as well as the hea…

Yeah, Hamburg's system impressed me the most of all the places I've been, even though the quality of the bikes is not great. I went to CycleHack (bike-themed hackathon) and DB gave us a bunch of StadtRad data to play around with. It turns out the Hamburg system has the highest usage in Germany by some distance, in large part because of the free 30 minutes you're given.

I think the system is still docked though, isn't it? IIRC, you don't have to physically attach your bike to a docking station when you're done, but you are required to park within a certain (small) radius of a station to end your trip.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#134

Post by gpapilion »

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…

The unit costs from Lyft’s S1 showed that bikes and cars were roughly equal revenue to Lyft on a per ride basis.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#135

Post by devit »

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…

The service is valuable since it reduces travel times for those using public transit and those going to place near their homes by replacing walking.

Hence, as long as vandalism is not too much of a problem and thus the service can be provided cheaply, it should be profitable.

There is also a natural moat since once you are subscribed to the service with the most bikes you have an incentive to stick with it.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#136

Post by ravenstine »

esoterica wrote: post #105
ravenstine wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because cars are way more useful. They have a much longer range than bikes or scooters, are fueled more easily, carry cargo, transport multiple people at once, can run on both gas and electric, have air conditioning, stereo systems, safety features, etc. Bicycles are obsolete in every way and aren't practical for most commuters. You bet cars take up 1000000x the space of bikes.

This reeks of suburban provincialism. Bikes are more useful in an urban context. On an individual level they are faster because they don’t get stuck in traffic and you don’t have to pay for parking. On a macro level cars are fundamentally incompatible with density because there is literally not enough space in a city for everyone to store and drive their cars.

> This reeks of suburban provincialism.

This reeks of intelligence signaling, and isn't an argument.

> an urban context

Yes, in an urban context, where one lives close enough to work and other conveniences, and one happens to have a shower in their office building. Most people don't live that close to work and they don't want to constantly show up to work sweaty. Bicycling certainly does work for same people, but it's not practical or sustainable for most people.

What do you think is going to happen in a scenario where most people are bicycling everywhere? They'd potentially spend just as much time on the road as they would in car traffic, have to constantly dodge other bikes and vehicles, and city officials would make them pay for parking.

People don't want to experience riding a bike day in and day out. Cars are a bestseller for a reason. If riding a bicycle was as obvious as you think it is, more people would be doing it.

> On a macro level cars are fundamentally incompatible with density because there is literally not enough space in a city for everyone to store and drive their cars.

And yet most cities are able to make it work with cars.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#137

Post by shuckles »

iaresee wrote: post #78
cgati wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Ford e-bike fleet got pulled due to some bikes experiencing too strong a braking force on the front wheel. They've been working on a redesigned e-bike and that will be coming soon.

The Ford e-bike fleet got pulled because $15/month for unlimited access to e-bikes was untenable and the few, bad bikes was good cover to pull them. When they come back they'll be $3 for the first 20 minutes just like the Uber bikes in SF now.

Interesting speculation, but wrong since the new Bay Wheels pricing page shows monthly and annual memberships are still available.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#138

Post by ilikehurdles »

robotburrito wrote: post #52

Why doesn't the city just run it's own scooter/bike share? Seems like it would exist in the same domain as things like MUNI and in theory would allow the city to make a profit instead of LYFT/UBER etc.

Some cities do. Denver has Denver B-cycle, and they are giving out 5280 free annual passes this year (not sure if they do this every year). The non-free option is still a fraction of the costs of the for-profit private companies. There are also a plethora of e-scooter brands though and I see them more often than bikes.

Boston has Bluebikes (e: seems like it's a partnership with Motivate?), also pretty cheap. A lot of people I knew in Boston had some kind of discounted rate through their employer where they got unlimited complimentary 30-minute rides.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#139

Post by eloff »

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 use docked, manual bikes in the city of Vancouver. It costs less than the bike storage fees in my building for unlimited one hour trips (and for longer trips you just dock and undock again.) So I sold my bike long ago and just keep using the bike share system. It's faster than a taxi to get around downtown. Pretty useless in the winter though with all the rain.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#140

Post by Jonnerz »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #132
Jonnerz wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it's okay for them to be littered by cars?

Cars are ticketed or towed when not left in specifically designated areas. Nobody is "littering" the streets with cars. You just don't agree with the specifics of how the government has allocated the physical space resources under its control so you see it that way.

Consider the emission and noise "litter" cars generate too, I would much rather see a few scooters lying around the place than breathe in diesel fumes everday. Really it's just a temporary issue, a bump in the road to emission-free cities.
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