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There's another bike company here in (SE)Asia, OBike. They're pretty big, and aggressively fundraising. I told my wife, "I can understand that people want to Ub
by wiradikusuma 9y ago
There's another bike company here in (SE)Asia, OBike. They're pretty big, and aggressively fundraising. I told my wife, "I can understand that people want to Uber-ify everything, but this is very different than Uber concept, so I think it won't work in the long term."
The main difference is.. who's looking after the vehicle.
With Uber, the vehicle is typically owned by the driver, so the driver has interest in making sure the customers (riders) don't vandalize it. Not only that, it's in the driver's best interest to keep the vehicle maintained.
With these bike sharing companies, nobody except the company owns the bike. And since nobody is watching over the customers, they don't feel the need to behave.
You can say, "Just force them to put deposit, and if the bike is damaged, deduct their deposit." Well, how do you know if the bike is damaged by them, and not random bypassers?
- k_lander 9y agoYou can say, "Just force them to put deposit, and if the bike is damaged, deduct their deposit." Well, how do you know if the bike is damaged by them, and not random bypassers? You don't but the point of the deposit is simply to act as a deterrent. When your deposit is on the line, you have an incentive to look after the bike while it is in your possession. You wouldn't purposely seek to damage it if it is going to cost you. It takes the "fun" out of vandalising and that is usually sufficient.
- pfarnsworth 9y agoThe people who take joy in vandalizing things will have no fear in a deposit especially since it’s impossible to prove if they vandalized anything.