8 ms·

There's a lot of room for improvement over the new wave of bike startups. I had shockingly bad experiences with OBike - extremely inaccurate locations for thei

There's a lot of room for improvement over the new wave of bike startups. I had shockingly bad experiences with OBike - extremely inaccurate locations for their bikes, broken seat, zero response from support when I explained I couldn't lock the bike, and apparently no restrictions in the whole country, so bikes end up all over the country as well as in people's residences or workplaces (not to mention canals and rivers). They dumped hundreds of bikes in central London and a couple weeks later there were none at all. Mobike seems like they have their heads more switched on, but the seat on current models is so low that their bikes (in London at least) are barely usable to anyone at average adult height or above. The official London scheme aka Boris Bikes is still the best, but restricted to central London. The docks have three downsides over the newer model - (1) docks can get full and (2) you still have the last-mile problem walking to/from the dock (3) if unfamiliar with your destination, your ride ends hunting around for a dock to park in or you have to plan ahead and remember where to park ... even then it might be full. One good thing though is they apparently move bikes around in vans to help fill capacity (mainly because commuters move them central in the morning and away again at night). I don't think the new wave of bike startups expanding to new cities every week are hiring drivers to move their stock around.

notyourwork 9y ago
> Mobike seems like they have their heads more switched on, but the seat on current models is so low that their bikes (in London at least) are barely usable to anyone at average adult height or above. Are you not able to adjust the seat? Considering the varying heights of people this would seem like a standard expected feature.
- mmahemoff 9y ago
  You can a bit, but the max height is still absurdly low. Where Boris bikes will probably allow a 190cm tall person to be comfortable, these probably max out around 170cm tall before you're feeling the pain.
  - bigfudge 9y ago
    I'm 202cm and they're fine for me. Was amazed the first time I tried
    - richardknop 9y ago
      I'm 194cm and for me it was a bit too small even when I adjust the seat. I can still ride the bicycle fairly comfortable but I need to be careful as I sometimes scratch my knees against the handlebar. I had few scratches on my right knee last week from riding Mobike so I had to adjust my technique a bit which means I cannot go as fast as I could and can't turn too rapidly left or right.
- ACow_Adonis 9y ago
  I'm not from London, not have a used mobike, but one of the criticisms of obike (one of the schemes started here in Melbourne) is that they've apparently dumped a supply of bikes that SEEM like they were designed for a population of much shorter people (the assumption is east Asian populations). Either way, when half the male population is 6ft or above, it seems the bikes are just generally too small, even with the seat extended to their maximum height.
whoami_nr 9y ago
>move bikes around in vans The irony !
- icebraining 9y ago
  It's not ironic, it's just smart. Carrying just the bikes is much more efficient than carrying humans, since they're lighter and slimmer (a single van can carry dozens) and don't have fixed schedules, so they can be transported outside of rush hour. Some places have incentives for users to ride bikes to certain docks, but it's not enough to fully balance it.
icebraining 9y ago
Regarding the full docks, Hamburg (StadtRAD) has a nice system: you still have to go to a dock, but if it's full, you can lock it by itself and leave it there. Having previously tried JCDecaux's system in Paris and Brussels, it was a pleasant surprise.
- deanclatworthy 9y ago
  This is how it works in Helsinki too. Except half the time, one bike isn’t mounted properly and it thinks it’s not full. This happened enough times for me to ditch it and use my own bike, especially after the city didn’t address the feedback they had regarding the issue.
- t_fatus 9y ago
  the new system in Paris allows this now.
- zbrox 9y ago
  From personal experience the deal they make with the host city is usually a win-win (for the municipality and for the citizens). The experience is great, JCDecaux gets to use some billboard locations, and the citizens get a dirt cheap public bike scheme. Here in Sweden it costs something like 8 euros per year. Yes, per year. Another interesting thing is that they have a pretty OK API https://developer.jcdecaux.com/#/opendata/vls?page=getstarted https://developer.jcdecaux.com/#/opendata/vls?page=getstarte...
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Oh, no argument there, I quite enjoyed using Villo, and it's really dirt cheap (not 8, but still just 30€). That said, and while it's probably built on top of that API, Brussels has an even better API: it lets you submit a geographical area (which you can design manually on their site) and get info on all stations inside it in a single request/response, and you don't even need registration: https://opendata.bruxelles.be/explore/dataset/stations-villo-disponibilites-en-temps-reel/api/ https://opendata.bruxelles.be/explore/dataset/stations-villo...
Reason077 9y ago
"Boris Bikes is still the best, but restricted to central London and can't unlock via phone." Not true! The official Santander Cycles app lets you hire a bike via your phone. Works well and saves a huge amount of time compared to using the kiosks. I agree that the current Boris Bikes are the best, though they have a new lighter, smaller bike model which feels a lot more like a Mobike/ofo to ride. Not as nice IMO.
- mmahemoff 9y ago
  Thanks, it wasn't possible a while back when I check, I removed that from my comment. Might look at installing it again, despite its glorious 2.2 star rating :)
- thedays 9y ago
  I wish people wouldn't call them Boris Bikes, as Boris (the former mayor of London) only took credit for this cycling scheme that Livingstone, his predecessor as mayor, originally developed. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/09/transport.world1 https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/09/transport.world1
mattbessey 9y ago
In addition to the other commenters phone rebuttal, for only £3 you can buy a fob that seems to work much like an oyster card for the bike system. I can't say I've tried them yet, but if it allows auto-top up like oyster, seems more convenient than even a smartphone app! https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/santander-cycles/register-for-your-own-key https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/santander-cycles/register-f...
- mmahemoff 9y ago
  I've used it, but it's another thing to carry around (admittedly small) and since you usually need the phone anyway for maps and availablity, I think I prefer the phone based QR system. Also it's a downside from a tourist's perspective.
- mFixman 9y ago
  The key is free if you get the £90 yearly membership. The membership was some of the best money I spent since I came to London.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
bdamm 9y ago
I loved riding OBikes around Singapore when I was there for a week last year. They seemed to cluster in surprisingly useful places. However, the difficulty they are having with maintaining the fleet quickly became clear as I'd wander down the street to test bike after bike to find one that had working pedals, seat, and handlebars.
- ccozan 9y ago
  I had recently a really bad experience with a Deutsche Bahn bike in Munich. I needed a quick ride and I took really the first one. After 100m the bike almost desintegrated and to my luck, I ended up on the sidewalk and not on the adjacent street ( running with cars at full speed - heh, Mittlere Ring! ). Result: Shoulder injury, 3 weeks of spitalization. Nothing to do, since the TOS requires that you check the bike and report it if broken.
- rorykoehler 9y ago
  That's more a reflection on the terrible quality of Obikes bicycles. Mobike and Ofo, while not perfect, have way fewer issues in that regard. So much so that I stopped using Obike altogether.
dschep 9y ago
In DC we also have JUMP (tho this Uber integration seems to be SF only), in addition to ofo, spin, mobike & limebike. And in my experience JUMP doesn't suffer from the majority of the issues the other dockless providers do. Their bikes are much higher quality and lock to something. This quality comes at a price, so the provider is more invested in bikes remaining in operation, whereas the other providers' bikes are so cheap that the companies treat them as disposable leading to most of the problems. Re: vans -- dockless providers do this too (at least in DC, where they're required to) Edit: and since this is HN, I've gotta point out that JUMP is also the only dockless operator in DC with an easy to use & publicly accessible API.
- komali2 9y ago
  What can you do with the API? I don't see any information on the website about an API.
  - dschep 9y ago
    I'm not sure what the full authenticated API[0] can do, maybe the sort of integration Uber did is possible. But with the open data APIs make it easy to find all bikes currently available in the system. I've used them to add JUMP to my bike finder webapp[2] and build a little service to send myself notification of where the nearest JUMP bike is in the morning[3] because they don't yet have huge coverage in DC (working on porting this from single user + pushover to a PWA using web push). [0] https://app.socialbicycles.com/developer/ https://app.socialbicycles.com/developer/ [1] https://dc.jumpmobility.com/opendata https://dc.jumpmobility.com/opendata & https://sf.jumpmobility.com/opendata https://sf.jumpmobility.com/opendata [2] https://github.com/dschep/dc-bike-finder https://github.com/dschep/dc-bike-finder [3] https://github.com/dschep/JUMPStart https://github.com/dschep/JUMPStart
nothrabannosir 9y ago
Fully agree re Boris Bikes. They’re a delight, and great complement to other modes of transport on a lengthy commute. One “hack” that easily doubles the convenience: > (3) if unfamiliar with your destination, your ride ends hunting around for a dock to park in or you have to plan ahead and remember where to park ... even then it might be full. Citymapper[0] has a live view of all docking stations and their occupancy. Without this, you can go absolutely mad. [0] ubiquitous transport app in London.
toomanybeersies 9y ago
OBike has been a shocking failure in Australia. Not necessarily from a business perspective, but from an environmental one. Because they aren't physically locked onto anything, it has become a game to see what stupid place you can put an OBike. Recently they fished a couple of dozen out of the Yarra River. People think it's amusing to just abuse them. Half of them have the wheel lock broken off them, so they're free to ride. I think it's an Australian culture thing, there is a lack of respect for property. OBike seems to work a lot better in Singapore, where people have respect for property.
- neumann 9y ago
  Oh god yes. I live near a small creek in central melbourne. My morning commute passes usually 3-4 newly trashed O-bikes that have been ghostied into the creek, or recently fished out by a neighbour. I recently spotted a guy with a super nice camera stalking the riverbank and jokingly asked him if he was O-bike spotting. He replied that he was, I pointed him to two submerged on the other bank and he said he was making an arts film about O-Bikes coming to life and joining together like voltron. The company had even promised to donate some trashed O-Bikes to him. At this point, I wonder what their business model is.
  - flukus 9y ago
    > At this point, I wonder what their business model is. Same as silicon valley, keep growing to attract more and more venture capital, worry about profitability later.
    - PhasmaFelis 9y ago
      Step 1: Build user base. Step 3: Profit.
- NamTaf 9y ago
  It's disappointing it occurs here but it's not uniquely Australian. I see a fair amount of bikes in similar states of disposal whenever I head over to China. That said, in the CBD area of major chinese cities these things are so ubiquitous that I suspect the company just accepts a mortality rate for them. The sibling comment is right, though; I don't know how you could run this successfully with that level of mortality rate eating into your bottom line.
rahimnathwani 9y ago
"you still have the last-mile problem walking to/from the dock" If you have to walk the last mile, how can this bike scheme be 'still the best'? This is unfathomable to me given that in Beijing, where I live, Mobike and Ofo are primarily used for short journeys, and many of those start/end at a subway station. i.e. these bikes are primarily used for last-mile/first-mile. Oh, and not sure about how they operate in London, but in Beijing both Mobike and Ofo have moving bikes around in vans as a key part of their operating model.
notatoad 9y ago
>One good thing though is they apparently move bikes around in vans to help fill capacity (mainly because commuters move them central in the morning and away again at night). I don't think the new wave of bike startups expanding to new cities every week are hiring drivers to move their stock around. it was my understanding that this is a common practice among all the bike-share programs, and bike sharing ultimately doesn't work without constant re-shuffling of bikes towards high-demand areas.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  Yea, I think every city I've lived in has trucks that shuffle bikes around. It's a pretty basic requirement to keep the cycles distributed.
rorykoehler 9y ago
Obike is the worst. Mobike and Ofo are lightyears better.
anonu 9y ago
NYC's Citi Bike started out terribly. But they've improved in leaps and bounds since inception: Better bikes that are rarely broken (some with the really cool NuVinci continuously variable gears), better app, more up-to-date stats on available bikes and docks, good manual rebalancing and community incentives to rebalance (Bike Angels), valet at crowded stations.... to name a few improvements. They've had to raise their price almost every year - but at $180/year its still a steal. When Uber came to NYC I (wrongly) thought that it wasn't going to have such a great impact because of the sheer number of yellow cabs that were never that far away. My initial feeling about Uber Bike if it comes to NYC is that it would be great - and help boost bike rider numbers.
- megablast 9y ago
  I mean, is it? You can easily buy a bike a year for that. And a decent second one at that.
  - abhisharma2 9y ago
    Definitely not a steal, but NYC apartments are usually pretty small and potentially high (and many buildings don't have elevators).
2dvisio 9y ago
In Oxford the best I tried so far is Ofo. It rides like a perfectly normal bike. All others (Boris bikes included) still give me a strange feeling.
zepn 9y ago
> One good thing though is they apparently move bikes around in vans to help fill capacity Much better is NYC's approach of using "Bike Angels" ( http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/02/09/new_york_s_citi_bike_pays_riders_to_make_it_run_better.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/02/09/new_york_s_ci... ) to redistribute. As I understand it, they still use trucks, but this is visionary compared with London's system, which simply adds more (badly driven, polluting) trucks to traffic.
anonymousDan 9y ago
Re Boris Bike problems, I can recommend getting the app. It lets you see which nearby docks are full/empty on a map and works really well.
jackpeterfletch 9y ago
I think the Boris Bike system is fantastic (I commute on one everyday, !£90yr!), and actually think the dock model is best. I think this is shown by how much they get used, every dock I go by probably sees a full rotations of bikes every 2 days! The problem with the others, is that the allure of being able to leave your bike anywhere is instantly wiped out by never reliably being able to know where one will be, which also causes issues in distribution. You cant efficiently redistribute bikes that don't congregate, and in order to be able to find them and not loose them, they need extra electronics, and batteries, and security features. OBikes location is bad because it trusts the location that your phone thinks its in. A dock being full (or empty) is an relatively uncommon inconvenience for me, but the docks are extremely dense (there are 3 within 1-2 minutes walk of my office, and about 4 1-5 minutes walk from my house), and to help with this, the App they provide will show you the closest stations, as well as how full those stations are. Because of this its never more than a 5 minute issue. My only complaints are, they're a little heavy, though the hardware is 'good enough' to compensate for this. More councils need them installed (I heard this is just an issue of councils not wanting to pay the fee just yet). And I think they should increase the first cost tier to 40mins, that would make it cost effective as a commuter for alot more people. My regular routes are Angel->E&C (~22mins), and Angel->Primrose Hill (~15mins)

notyourwork 9y ago

> Mobike seems like they have their heads more switched on, but the seat on current models is so low that their bikes (in London at least) are barely usable to anyone at average adult height or above. Are you not able to adjust the seat? Considering the varying heights of people this would seem like a standard expected feature.

mmahemoff 9y ago
You can a bit, but the max height is still absurdly low. Where Boris bikes will probably allow a 190cm tall person to be comfortable, these probably max out around 170cm tall before you're feeling the pain.
- bigfudge 9y ago
  I'm 202cm and they're fine for me. Was amazed the first time I tried
  - richardknop 9y ago
    I'm 194cm and for me it was a bit too small even when I adjust the seat. I can still ride the bicycle fairly comfortable but I need to be careful as I sometimes scratch my knees against the handlebar. I had few scratches on my right knee last week from riding Mobike so I had to adjust my technique a bit which means I cannot go as fast as I could and can't turn too rapidly left or right.
ACow_Adonis 9y ago
I'm not from London, not have a used mobike, but one of the criticisms of obike (one of the schemes started here in Melbourne) is that they've apparently dumped a supply of bikes that SEEM like they were designed for a population of much shorter people (the assumption is east Asian populations). Either way, when half the male population is 6ft or above, it seems the bikes are just generally too small, even with the seat extended to their maximum height.

whoami_nr 9y ago

>move bikes around in vans The irony !

icebraining 9y ago
It's not ironic, it's just smart. Carrying just the bikes is much more efficient than carrying humans, since they're lighter and slimmer (a single van can carry dozens) and don't have fixed schedules, so they can be transported outside of rush hour. Some places have incentives for users to ride bikes to certain docks, but it's not enough to fully balance it.

icebraining 9y ago

Regarding the full docks, Hamburg (StadtRAD) has a nice system: you still have to go to a dock, but if it's full, you can lock it by itself and leave it there. Having previously tried JCDecaux's system in Paris and Brussels, it was a pleasant surprise.

deanclatworthy 9y ago
This is how it works in Helsinki too. Except half the time, one bike isn’t mounted properly and it thinks it’s not full. This happened enough times for me to ditch it and use my own bike, especially after the city didn’t address the feedback they had regarding the issue.
t_fatus 9y ago
the new system in Paris allows this now.
zbrox 9y ago
From personal experience the deal they make with the host city is usually a win-win (for the municipality and for the citizens). The experience is great, JCDecaux gets to use some billboard locations, and the citizens get a dirt cheap public bike scheme. Here in Sweden it costs something like 8 euros per year. Yes, per year. Another interesting thing is that they have a pretty OK API https://developer.jcdecaux.com/#/opendata/vls?page=getstarted https://developer.jcdecaux.com/#/opendata/vls?page=getstarte...
- icebraining 9y ago
  Oh, no argument there, I quite enjoyed using Villo, and it's really dirt cheap (not 8, but still just 30€). That said, and while it's probably built on top of that API, Brussels has an even better API: it lets you submit a geographical area (which you can design manually on their site) and get info on all stations inside it in a single request/response, and you don't even need registration: https://opendata.bruxelles.be/explore/dataset/stations-villo-disponibilites-en-temps-reel/api/ https://opendata.bruxelles.be/explore/dataset/stations-villo...

Reason077 9y ago

"Boris Bikes is still the best, but restricted to central London and can't unlock via phone." Not true! The official Santander Cycles app lets you hire a bike via your phone. Works well and saves a huge amount of time compared to using the kiosks. I agree that the current Boris Bikes are the best, though they have a new lighter, smaller bike model which feels a lot more like a Mobike/ofo to ride. Not as nice IMO.

mmahemoff 9y ago
Thanks, it wasn't possible a while back when I check, I removed that from my comment. Might look at installing it again, despite its glorious 2.2 star rating :)
thedays 9y ago
I wish people wouldn't call them Boris Bikes, as Boris (the former mayor of London) only took credit for this cycling scheme that Livingstone, his predecessor as mayor, originally developed. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/09/transport.world1 https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/09/transport.world1

mattbessey 9y ago

In addition to the other commenters phone rebuttal, for only £3 you can buy a fob that seems to work much like an oyster card for the bike system. I can't say I've tried them yet, but if it allows auto-top up like oyster, seems more convenient than even a smartphone app! https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/santander-cycles/register-for-your-own-key https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/santander-cycles/register-f...

mmahemoff 9y ago
I've used it, but it's another thing to carry around (admittedly small) and since you usually need the phone anyway for maps and availablity, I think I prefer the phone based QR system. Also it's a downside from a tourist's perspective.
mFixman 9y ago
The key is free if you get the £90 yearly membership. The membership was some of the best money I spent since I came to London.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

bdamm 9y ago

I loved riding OBikes around Singapore when I was there for a week last year. They seemed to cluster in surprisingly useful places. However, the difficulty they are having with maintaining the fleet quickly became clear as I'd wander down the street to test bike after bike to find one that had working pedals, seat, and handlebars.

ccozan 9y ago
I had recently a really bad experience with a Deutsche Bahn bike in Munich. I needed a quick ride and I took really the first one. After 100m the bike almost desintegrated and to my luck, I ended up on the sidewalk and not on the adjacent street ( running with cars at full speed - heh, Mittlere Ring! ). Result: Shoulder injury, 3 weeks of spitalization. Nothing to do, since the TOS requires that you check the bike and report it if broken.
rorykoehler 9y ago
That's more a reflection on the terrible quality of Obikes bicycles. Mobike and Ofo, while not perfect, have way fewer issues in that regard. So much so that I stopped using Obike altogether.

dschep 9y ago

In DC we also have JUMP (tho this Uber integration seems to be SF only), in addition to ofo, spin, mobike & limebike. And in my experience JUMP doesn't suffer from the majority of the issues the other dockless providers do. Their bikes are much higher quality and lock to something. This quality comes at a price, so the provider is more invested in bikes remaining in operation, whereas the other providers' bikes are so cheap that the companies treat them as disposable leading to most of the problems. Re: vans -- dockless providers do this too (at least in DC, where they're required to) Edit: and since this is HN, I've gotta point out that JUMP is also the only dockless operator in DC with an easy to use & publicly accessible API.

komali2 9y ago
What can you do with the API? I don't see any information on the website about an API.
- dschep 9y ago
  I'm not sure what the full authenticated API[0] can do, maybe the sort of integration Uber did is possible. But with the open data APIs make it easy to find all bikes currently available in the system. I've used them to add JUMP to my bike finder webapp[2] and build a little service to send myself notification of where the nearest JUMP bike is in the morning[3] because they don't yet have huge coverage in DC (working on porting this from single user + pushover to a PWA using web push). [0] https://app.socialbicycles.com/developer/ https://app.socialbicycles.com/developer/ [1] https://dc.jumpmobility.com/opendata https://dc.jumpmobility.com/opendata & https://sf.jumpmobility.com/opendata https://sf.jumpmobility.com/opendata [2] https://github.com/dschep/dc-bike-finder https://github.com/dschep/dc-bike-finder [3] https://github.com/dschep/JUMPStart https://github.com/dschep/JUMPStart

nothrabannosir 9y ago

Fully agree re Boris Bikes. They’re a delight, and great complement to other modes of transport on a lengthy commute. One “hack” that easily doubles the convenience: > (3) if unfamiliar with your destination, your ride ends hunting around for a dock to park in or you have to plan ahead and remember where to park ... even then it might be full. Citymapper[0] has a live view of all docking stations and their occupancy. Without this, you can go absolutely mad. [0] ubiquitous transport app in London.

toomanybeersies 9y ago

OBike has been a shocking failure in Australia. Not necessarily from a business perspective, but from an environmental one. Because they aren't physically locked onto anything, it has become a game to see what stupid place you can put an OBike. Recently they fished a couple of dozen out of the Yarra River. People think it's amusing to just abuse them. Half of them have the wheel lock broken off them, so they're free to ride. I think it's an Australian culture thing, there is a lack of respect for property. OBike seems to work a lot better in Singapore, where people have respect for property.

neumann 9y ago
Oh god yes. I live near a small creek in central melbourne. My morning commute passes usually 3-4 newly trashed O-bikes that have been ghostied into the creek, or recently fished out by a neighbour. I recently spotted a guy with a super nice camera stalking the riverbank and jokingly asked him if he was O-bike spotting. He replied that he was, I pointed him to two submerged on the other bank and he said he was making an arts film about O-Bikes coming to life and joining together like voltron. The company had even promised to donate some trashed O-Bikes to him. At this point, I wonder what their business model is.
- flukus 9y ago
  > At this point, I wonder what their business model is. Same as silicon valley, keep growing to attract more and more venture capital, worry about profitability later.
  - PhasmaFelis 9y ago
    Step 1: Build user base. Step 3: Profit.
NamTaf 9y ago
It's disappointing it occurs here but it's not uniquely Australian. I see a fair amount of bikes in similar states of disposal whenever I head over to China. That said, in the CBD area of major chinese cities these things are so ubiquitous that I suspect the company just accepts a mortality rate for them. The sibling comment is right, though; I don't know how you could run this successfully with that level of mortality rate eating into your bottom line.

rahimnathwani 9y ago

"you still have the last-mile problem walking to/from the dock" If you have to walk the last mile, how can this bike scheme be 'still the best'? This is unfathomable to me given that in Beijing, where I live, Mobike and Ofo are primarily used for short journeys, and many of those start/end at a subway station. i.e. these bikes are primarily used for last-mile/first-mile. Oh, and not sure about how they operate in London, but in Beijing both Mobike and Ofo have moving bikes around in vans as a key part of their operating model.

notatoad 9y ago

>One good thing though is they apparently move bikes around in vans to help fill capacity (mainly because commuters move them central in the morning and away again at night). I don't think the new wave of bike startups expanding to new cities every week are hiring drivers to move their stock around. it was my understanding that this is a common practice among all the bike-share programs, and bike sharing ultimately doesn't work without constant re-shuffling of bikes towards high-demand areas.

djsumdog 9y ago
Yea, I think every city I've lived in has trucks that shuffle bikes around. It's a pretty basic requirement to keep the cycles distributed.

rorykoehler 9y ago

Obike is the worst. Mobike and Ofo are lightyears better.

anonu 9y ago

NYC's Citi Bike started out terribly. But they've improved in leaps and bounds since inception: Better bikes that are rarely broken (some with the really cool NuVinci continuously variable gears), better app, more up-to-date stats on available bikes and docks, good manual rebalancing and community incentives to rebalance (Bike Angels), valet at crowded stations.... to name a few improvements. They've had to raise their price almost every year - but at $180/year its still a steal. When Uber came to NYC I (wrongly) thought that it wasn't going to have such a great impact because of the sheer number of yellow cabs that were never that far away. My initial feeling about Uber Bike if it comes to NYC is that it would be great - and help boost bike rider numbers.

megablast 9y ago
I mean, is it? You can easily buy a bike a year for that. And a decent second one at that.
- abhisharma2 9y ago
  Definitely not a steal, but NYC apartments are usually pretty small and potentially high (and many buildings don't have elevators).

2dvisio 9y ago

In Oxford the best I tried so far is Ofo. It rides like a perfectly normal bike. All others (Boris bikes included) still give me a strange feeling.

zepn 9y ago

> One good thing though is they apparently move bikes around in vans to help fill capacity Much better is NYC's approach of using "Bike Angels" ( http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/02/09/new_york_s_citi_bike_pays_riders_to_make_it_run_better.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/02/09/new_york_s_ci... ) to redistribute. As I understand it, they still use trucks, but this is visionary compared with London's system, which simply adds more (badly driven, polluting) trucks to traffic.

anonymousDan 9y ago

Re Boris Bike problems, I can recommend getting the app. It lets you see which nearby docks are full/empty on a map and works really well.

jackpeterfletch 9y ago

I think the Boris Bike system is fantastic (I commute on one everyday, !£90yr!), and actually think the dock model is best. I think this is shown by how much they get used, every dock I go by probably sees a full rotations of bikes every 2 days! The problem with the others, is that the allure of being able to leave your bike anywhere is instantly wiped out by never reliably being able to know where one will be, which also causes issues in distribution. You cant efficiently redistribute bikes that don't congregate, and in order to be able to find them and not loose them, they need extra electronics, and batteries, and security features. OBikes location is bad because it trusts the location that your phone thinks its in. A dock being full (or empty) is an relatively uncommon inconvenience for me, but the docks are extremely dense (there are 3 within 1-2 minutes walk of my office, and about 4 1-5 minutes walk from my house), and to help with this, the App they provide will show you the closest stations, as well as how full those stations are. Because of this its never more than a 5 minute issue. My only complaints are, they're a little heavy, though the hardware is 'good enough' to compensate for this. More councils need them installed (I heard this is just an issue of councils not wanting to pay the fee just yet). And I think they should increase the first cost tier to 40mins, that would make it cost effective as a commuter for alot more people. My regular routes are Angel->E&C (~22mins), and Angel->Primrose Hill (~15mins)