Share bikes - good idea or failure

[Mick_Marsh]

What can be done to fix the problems?

Waverley Council loses patience with bike share trash in Sydney's eastern suburbs - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-05/waverley-council-loses-patience-with-bike-share-trash/9509838)

Can the problems be fixed?

[Zeros]

In Paris there's a huge credit card based fine if your bike isn't properly docked within a time limit.

[trog]

Perhaps refer back to the thread re helmets and the arguments pro and against as it was a response to the shared cycles and helmets.

[Tins]

What can be done to fix the problems?

Waverley Council loses patience with bike share trash in Sydney's eastern suburbs - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-05/waverley-council-loses-patience-with-bike-share-trash/9509838)

Can the problems be fixed?

In Melbourne it has been an abject failure. Perhaps, if people really want pedal power, we should consider rickshaws instead? Might be better for the poor than selling "The Big Issue". Personally though, I'd prefer Tuk Tuks. Or Uber.

[Mick_Marsh]

In Melbourne it has been an abject failure.
In part due to the helmet laws I suspect.
I won't ride them because when I think it is a good idea to, I don't have a helmet with me.

[trog]

In Melbourne it has been an abject failure. Perhaps, if people really want pedal power, we should consider rickshaws instead? Might be better for the poor than selling "The Big Issue". Personally though, I'd prefer Tuk Tuks. Or Uber.

Tuk Turks don’t pass adr’s, and I have read ride sharing has added to urban congestion , not reduced it. Not sure why the need to equate financial riches with the form of transport ?
If it weren’t for the helmet laws I would cycle to work , as buying a second car so that we can both drive in to our close by jobs. ,just doesn’t make economic sense.

[PhilipA]

I wonder why the bike share people do not have GPS locators on their bikes. You see them advertised cheaply now.
They would then know where they all are and pick up those in the wrong place.

I think the IDEA is ok , just the execution is crap.

But it is not only the larrikin Australians who dump bikes. I saw a photo a while ago of a barge fishing bikes out of an Amsterdam canal. There were hundreds on the barge.

Bingo YouTube Fishing bicycle wrecks from the canals of Amsterdam - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFAIzp9MCkg)

Regards Philip A

[Lewy110]

I was in Sydney a few weeks ago and they were dumped everywhere.

[Zeros]

There's obviously no real penalty for dumping the bikes. It's obvious. What happens when these bikes are 'returned'? Why don't they need to be locked back into a rack - to get your deposit back / not get fined?

I agree the helmet issue is a problem also. The nanny state we live in here gets in the way many great projects. The freedom of riding around Paris on a rental bike with no helmet is one of most enjoyable things I've done in a European city.

[67hardtop]

Found one dumped in the servo where i work sometimes. No helmet attatched. Broken spokes. Lock was locked. Rang the number on the bike. Just an answering service advising to download the app and report it tbere. I hung up. Bloody things are everywhere, like yellow turds all over the place. Maybe the council should start impounding them.
Rant over....for now..

Cheers Rod

[trog]

Not really that much different with shopping trolleys. Only an online form , no direct number , so after a few days the pile builds til they are collected. Then it starts again.
At least the dumped bikes take up less space than abandoned cars , a seem to get moved quicker.

[weeds]

I’m Brisbane it seems under control....there is a docking station in front of our building. I can’t recall seeing a city bike damaged or dumped.

Just yesterday a dude was at the end of his journey and there wasn’t a spot to dock.......he was a little frustrated as he had to cycle to the next docking station.

[Zeros]

Just yesterday a dude was at the end of his journey and there wasn’t a spot to dock.......he was a little frustrated as he had to cycle to the next docking station.

Hes that's the main problem with a properly organised system. Popular locations need extra docking stations and/or more pickups.

[Chops]

A GPS locator as suggested would be the obvious way to go. Why should people who don’t use them have to report on they’re whereabouts??
I think the Deposit options a good one too, although it could be argued that the reason people use the bikes in the first place is a lack of funds.

[trog]

A GPS locator as suggested would be the obvious way to go. Why should people who don’t use them have to report on they’re whereabouts??
I think the Deposit options a good one too, although it could be argued that the reason people use the bikes in the first place is a lack of funds.

My thoughts were they had some sort of tracking device inbuilt. Perhaps a scheme elsewhere on our wonderful planet ?
As far cycling is only a form of transport for the poor ? Hell it would be easier just to get your own bike , justhave a look about on chuck out days our garage sales. An old trundled is cheap as. It is the helmet or fine for not having one is the cost. Also , isn’t it more of a self sufficiency thing to use the bike ? Takes up less road space and you get some exercise , as opposed to fleets of geographically confused , underpaid Uber drivers.

[Arapiles]

In part due to the helmet laws I suspect.
I won't ride them because when I think it is a good idea to, I don't have a helmet with me.

Melbourne's blue bikes weren't popular because there's no need for them in the city, because you can get everywhere by tram - the reason share bikes worked in London was because there was a gap in transport over "the last mile", since most of the train lines don't link together e.g., to get from Kings Cross station to anywhere to the south, including Westminster, or to South Bank. It's not because of the helmets - bike share scheme fail more often than not, including in countries where helmets aren't required.

And I think some people responding above haven't understood that there's two types of bike schemes, the docked ones (like Melbourne's blue bikes) and the undocked mobile rubbish ones that, in the case of the yellow o-bikes in Melbourne, were simply dumped in the City without any prior consultation with any level of government.

[Mick_Marsh]

Who didn't see this coming?

Bike-sharing phenomenon set to stay in Sydney, but for how long? - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-27/bike-sharing-still-going-in-sydney-but-for-how-long/9910914)