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Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

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Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#61

Post by untog »

Larrikin wrote: post #28
pensketch wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're painting Lyft to be the bad guys because they're suing. It seems like SFMTA is trying to weasel out of a contract. Lyft isn't trying to prevent people from continuing to commute by bikeshare; they're trying to secure their ROI on their Motivate acquisition through the exclusivity contract with SF. Have you read the contract terms in the article you're linking to? SFMTA is saying the contract was for 'docked bi…

What if I don't care whether Lyft gets their ROI and just want the best bike share possible?

An exclusivity agreement might result in the best bike share possible. I don't want to pick up one company's bike and struggle to find a dock for that same company when it comes time for dropoff. Either one company gets exclusivity, or you end up with a huge amount of public space given over to redundant infrastructure.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#62

Post by shereadsthenews »

zippzom wrote: post #59
alpb wrote: post #43

I was in SF this week and had a chance to try this out. They have 0 (zero) e-bikes despite their app has a column to list the count. They also force you to pick up the bike from designated racks and drop-off at designated racks which is a pain in the ass. On the other hand JUMP has a fully e-bike fleet, but bikes were impossible to come by. I parked a JUMP bike that had full battery. An hour later I came back and the…

This hasn't been my experience at all. There are almost always e-bikes at the Ford stations (per the other comment maybe this was a one off issue) and the Jump bikes work just as well in SF as Seattle in my experience (no shortage of glitches in Seattle).

There haven’t been ebikes at any station for several weeks because they pulled them all over a front brake failure. They also pulled them in NYC.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#63

Post by shereadsthenews »

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.

Motivate isn’t exactly rolling in money. It’s essentially a non-profit.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#64

Post by yks »

zippzom wrote: post #59
alpb wrote: post #43

I was in SF this week and had a chance to try this out. They have 0 (zero) e-bikes despite their app has a column to list the count. They also force you to pick up the bike from designated racks and drop-off at designated racks which is a pain in the ass. On the other hand JUMP has a fully e-bike fleet, but bikes were impossible to come by. I parked a JUMP bike that had full battery. An hour later I came back and the…

This hasn't been my experience at all. There are almost always e-bikes at the Ford stations (per the other comment maybe this was a one off issue) and the Jump bikes work just as well in SF as Seattle in my experience (no shortage of glitches in Seattle).

Jump bikes strongly follow commuter pattern, e.g. if you're going downtown in the morning or back at 5pm, you won't find any but if you're doing the opposite (or midday ride downtown) then, of course, Jump bikes are plenty.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#65

Post by alpb »

zippzom wrote: post #59
alpb wrote: post #43

I was in SF this week and had a chance to try this out. They have 0 (zero) e-bikes despite their app has a column to list the count. They also force you to pick up the bike from designated racks and drop-off at designated racks which is a pain in the ass. On the other hand JUMP has a fully e-bike fleet, but bikes were impossible to come by. I parked a JUMP bike that had full battery. An hour later I came back and the…

This hasn't been my experience at all. There are almost always e-bikes at the Ford stations (per the other comment maybe this was a one off issue) and the Jump bikes work just as well in SF as Seattle in my experience (no shortage of glitches in Seattle).

Might be. I experienced no e-bikes for 4 days in a row while I was there just now. I also saw a ton of people using GoBikes during this period, none were e-bikes.

JUMP bikes in SF didn’t work for me most of the time. I would see one, but it wouldn’t let me take it. It worked about maybe 2 out of 6 times I tried. And as I said, the one I just locked with full battery and came back after an hour just wasn’t unlocking without a reasonable error message either. It makes me think there’s a secret reason they don’t let people unlock the bikes (they also don’t show up on the map).

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#66

Post by stephencoyner »

microdrum wrote: post #42

Another nail in the coffin of Bird?

I don't think so. On average, bike share trips are much longer than scooter trips (~1-3 for bikes vs ~0-1 for scooters) and e-bike trips are even further. With this in mind, I think it makes more sense to see scooter competition as walking than bikes or e-bikes.

Can't find the source I read this in originally, but will keep looking.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#67

Post by closeparen »

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.

A widespread belief that transportation should not be competitive might explain why it functions so poorly.

How is this different from banning all but one automaker?

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#68

Post by closeparen »

Benjammer wrote: post #54
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.

Is it really fair to describe a 10 yr government contract as "out-and-out regulatory capture"?

“Government contract” makes it sound like the government is buying something. This the government granting an exclusive license to sell something to the public.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#69

Post by 8ytecoder »

holy_city wrote: post #47
alpb wrote: post #43

I was in SF this week and had a chance to try this out. They have 0 (zero) e-bikes despite their app has a column to list the count. They also force you to pick up the bike from designated racks and drop-off at designated racks which is a pain in the ass. On the other hand JUMP has a fully e-bike fleet, but bikes were impossible to come by. I parked a JUMP bike that had full battery. An hour later I came back and the…

>They also force you to pick up the bike from designated racks and drop-off at designated racks which is a pain in the ass. I mean it's pain in the ass when I have to move the crap from the front steps of my building or out of the driveway because people aren't courteous their dockless transport widgets. I'm alright walking a little ways to dock a bike/scooter as a user, but I'm firmly against any company or city tha…

Even worse when someone in a wheelchair can’t get to the train because people can’t bother to put it back in their designated spots allotted to them in the station plaza. It’s 10 feet away literally.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#70

Post by closeparen »

untog wrote: post #61
Larrikin wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if I don't care whether Lyft gets their ROI and just want the best bike share possible?

An exclusivity agreement might result in the best bike share possible. I don't want to pick up one company's bike and struggle to find a dock for that same company when it comes time for dropoff. Either one company gets exclusivity, or you end up with a huge amount of public space given over to redundant infrastructure.

That is no reason to prohibit dockless bikeshares.
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