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Why would anyone use a station-based bike if a dockless is available?

Lutin 8y ago
The fairly consistent location of a station-based bike makes it attractive to me for both commuting and errand running. I have a GoBike station right near my house and right near my work, and it's very easy to fit into my routine, whereas pulling out a phone to (hopefully) find a dockless bike is much less convenient to me in those cases.
deleted 8y ago
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idunno246 8y ago
The article says that dockless isnt cannibalizing docked during commute hours. This matches my experiences, downtown theres plenty of docks and dockless bikes, but around my house theres very few dockless bikes/scooters, but a very close dock. Not having to think about where I'm going to go hunting for a bike is nice, and time planning a little easier especially for work. I imagine its also cheaper to run, which currently the annual ford bike pass in sf ends up being much cheaper than any of the alternatives - $12/month compared to a couple dollars per ride.
- sametmax 8y ago
  In frankfurt you can put back dockless bikes only to specific small areas, unless exceptionally you wanna pay premium. The bikes have a GPS after all, so why allow customers to scatter them ?
  - lazyasciiart 8y ago
    Because a huge part of the benefit is that the customers can use them for the last mile of their trip, wherever that goes.
    - sametmax 8y ago
      You can with this system. You just pay extra so that someone can bring it back.
peterburkimsher 8y ago
In Kaohsiung, Taiwan, there's City Bikes (government-owned, docking) and OBikes (independent, dockless). The City Bikes use the same iPass metro card. They're free for 30 mins. They have larger wheels so ride faster. I don't need to use cellular data or the latest app of the day in order to use them. Both are popular, but neither have taken away from my favourite system - several cheap broken bikes I bought from scrapyards, which I park at metro stations and cannibalise for parts when I need them (e.g. I swapped out an inner tube last week; a tyre this week). Many bicycles are made in Taiwan, and broken bikes can be as cheap as 300 NTD (compared to 60 NTD to put it on the metro for one trip). Over 3.5 years I think I've bought 8 scrap bikes, though I gave one away and 2 were stolen. Right now 3 are rideable. I can park anywhere without needing to dock, I don't need to worry if they get stolen (they're so cheap), and it pays for itself in metro fares within a month. I get regular exercise, I'm not limited by the 30 minute docking charges, and they're easy to repair. Traffic jams are a non-issue. When I leave (hopefully to NZ soon if I can get a job) then they're easy to get rid of.
- wlesieutre 8y ago
  >They have larger wheels so ride faster. Isn’t that more of a question of gear ratios?

The fairly consistent location of a station-based bike makes it attractive to me for both commuting and errand running. I have a GoBike station right near my house and right near my work, and it's very easy to fit into my routine, whereas pulling out a phone to (hopefully) find a dockless bike is much less convenient to me in those cases.

deleted 8y ago

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idunno246 8y ago

The article says that dockless isnt cannibalizing docked during commute hours. This matches my experiences, downtown theres plenty of docks and dockless bikes, but around my house theres very few dockless bikes/scooters, but a very close dock. Not having to think about where I'm going to go hunting for a bike is nice, and time planning a little easier especially for work. I imagine its also cheaper to run, which currently the annual ford bike pass in sf ends up being much cheaper than any of the alternatives - $12/month compared to a couple dollars per ride.

sametmax 8y ago
In frankfurt you can put back dockless bikes only to specific small areas, unless exceptionally you wanna pay premium. The bikes have a GPS after all, so why allow customers to scatter them ?
- lazyasciiart 8y ago
  Because a huge part of the benefit is that the customers can use them for the last mile of their trip, wherever that goes.
  - sametmax 8y ago
    You can with this system. You just pay extra so that someone can bring it back.

peterburkimsher 8y ago

In Kaohsiung, Taiwan, there's City Bikes (government-owned, docking) and OBikes (independent, dockless). The City Bikes use the same iPass metro card. They're free for 30 mins. They have larger wheels so ride faster. I don't need to use cellular data or the latest app of the day in order to use them. Both are popular, but neither have taken away from my favourite system - several cheap broken bikes I bought from scrapyards, which I park at metro stations and cannibalise for parts when I need them (e.g. I swapped out an inner tube last week; a tyre this week). Many bicycles are made in Taiwan, and broken bikes can be as cheap as 300 NTD (compared to 60 NTD to put it on the metro for one trip). Over 3.5 years I think I've bought 8 scrap bikes, though I gave one away and 2 were stolen. Right now 3 are rideable. I can park anywhere without needing to dock, I don't need to worry if they get stolen (they're so cheap), and it pays for itself in metro fares within a month. I get regular exercise, I'm not limited by the 30 minute docking charges, and they're easy to repair. Traffic jams are a non-issue. When I leave (hopefully to NZ soon if I can get a job) then they're easy to get rid of.

wlesieutre 8y ago
>They have larger wheels so ride faster. Isn’t that more of a question of gear ratios?