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Aren't all of these bike sharing startups a symptom of a bigger cause? Afaik there's a huge property bubble in China, particularly in Beijing. A lot of people
by brad0 9y ago
Aren't all of these bike sharing startups a symptom of a bigger cause?
Afaik there's a huge property bubble in China, particularly in Beijing. A lot of people have become billionaires quickly and they're looking to invest that money into something else. But the bike sharing startups are a bubble within themselves.
I wonder when it's all going to pop.
- beguiledfoil 9y agoWhat's unsustainable about cheap bikes?
- brad0 9y agoThe cost of maintenance is one. The other is getting back bikes that have been misplaced due to bad behaviour.
- kurthr 9y agoIts not about cheap bikes. The bikes break, are destroyed, left somewhere useless/dangerous, or are stolen/confiscated. The investment money that paid for them was leveraged (an investment/loan). The income from the surplus of nearly free bikes can't pay back the investors and retain their ridership. Meanwhile, people who live near a point of interest have to deal with a massive pile of dumped (possibly broken) bikes in front of where they work/live... and they pay a public price.
- ospider 9y agotechnically, the newer models get GPS track devices builtin, so the chance of maintenance might be smaller than you thought.
- lozenge 9y agoAt $0.07/hour, with a bike cost of $80, the bike needs to be taken on 1,200 hour-long trips to recoup its investment. That's possible, but not in a city with 1 hire bike for every 16 people. And this isn't even considering the bike repair, lost/vandalised/taken apart bikes, trucks needed to move the bikes when people's trips don't balance the bikes out (e.g. people riding public transport uphill and bikes downhill). Even most publicly funded bike shares don't make a profit. They bring benefits to their city in reduced pollution and traffic, and increased health and enjoyment. None of which will show up on a start-up's balance sheet.
- bjshepard 9y agoI doubt it's a bubble, considering the deeper population dynamics. Consider the increase in property values in, say, New York during the period of most intense urbanization in the 20c as an analogy.
- maxscam 9y agoI think theyre just too expensive right now. So in the us the case for an 8 dollar a day rental or more is slim
- maxscam 9y agoI think theyre just too expensive right now. So in the us the case for an 8 dollar a day rental or more is not convincing in terms of affordability.