3 ms·

In my city (Milan, Italy) bike-sharing is an extremely common solution. I feel like the business model is the main problem. Low margins high-costs (you freque

by luqa 7y ago

In my city (Milan, Italy) bike-sharing is an extremely common solution. I feel like the business model is the main problem. Low margins high-costs (you frequently need to replace thousands of bikes) and basically no moat. Every few years a new startup can enter the marketing with a better bike. The incumbents have to improve their or risk losing the entire market in a matter of weeks.

Barrin92 7y ago
>Low margins high-costs (you frequently need to replace thousands of bikes) and basically no moat. the story of the sharing economy right there. I seriously don't know how bike / taxi / scooter rental companies have become a favourite of tech investors. It seems like some Robin Hood scheme to distribute money from investors to customers
bonestamp2 7y ago
Can you help us understand why bike-sharing is popular in Milan? For example, why wouldn't someone just buy a bike?
- icebraining 7y ago
  Seems like a subscription to their BikeMi system costs 36€/year for unlimited free rides (up to 30mins/ride), so quite cost competitive with bike ownership. This is becoming common in main European cities (I know of Brussels, Paris and Lisbon).
- crummy 7y ago
  It's genuinely less hassle. Where do I park my bike? How do I prevent it from being stolen? It got a flat tire, what do I do? These seem like simple questions but bike sharing provides such a simple solution to them, plus more: you caught a ride to the park but don't want to pay for a taxi back? Missed the bus? Need to get to a meeting a few blocks away but don't want to arrive sweaty from a run? The answer is there's a share bike already within sight of you that you can rent for (literally) pennies in seconds. (They're also pretty heavy for anything but short distances and not always in great condition. And at least in Berlin where I lived you can get your own bike for $50 or so, which I had. But I still like the idea.)
- paganel 7y ago
  > why wouldn't someone just buy a bike? I live in a crowded European capital city (Bucharest) and one of the big reasons for me not buying a bike is that I don't have enough available place. I personally live in an one-bedroom apartment (before that I used to live in a studio) and yes, I could probably fit a bike somewhere around the place but that would be pretty inconvenient. I also live on the 8th floor and a regular bike doesn't fit in my building's elevator, so that would mean me having to carry it 8 floors up and down each time I wanted to ride it. My gf does have a bicycle but for the reasons I mentioned above she decided to keep it at her office, which is at walking distance from where we currently live (about 10-15 minutes).
- dagw 7y ago
  For example, why wouldn't someone just buy a bike? If you buy a bike you lose some flexibility. With bike sharing I can take the bus to work, take a bike to my meeting and then decide whether to take the bus or bike home depending on the weather and my plans. I can also do things like take the bus into town and then take the bike from the bus stop to the place I'm going, or bike into town and take the bus home with all my shopping.
track_me_now 7y ago
We have a new bike share in our city that started last fall. Their prices are higher than car share and the riders are scarier on bikes than behind the wheel. They are electric pedal-assist bikes as well, and provincial laws require the use of a helmet. How many people who use a bike share bring their own helmet with them? How can a company create a business model that obviously & intentionally breaks the law? Because uber & airbnb taught them to disregard the rules, heavily subsidize your product and your users will force the change you require.

by luqa 7y ago

Barrin92 7y ago

>Low margins high-costs (you frequently need to replace thousands of bikes) and basically no moat. the story of the sharing economy right there. I seriously don't know how bike / taxi / scooter rental companies have become a favourite of tech investors. It seems like some Robin Hood scheme to distribute money from investors to customers

bonestamp2 7y ago

Can you help us understand why bike-sharing is popular in Milan? For example, why wouldn't someone just buy a bike?

icebraining 7y ago
Seems like a subscription to their BikeMi system costs 36€/year for unlimited free rides (up to 30mins/ride), so quite cost competitive with bike ownership. This is becoming common in main European cities (I know of Brussels, Paris and Lisbon).
crummy 7y ago
It's genuinely less hassle. Where do I park my bike? How do I prevent it from being stolen? It got a flat tire, what do I do? These seem like simple questions but bike sharing provides such a simple solution to them, plus more: you caught a ride to the park but don't want to pay for a taxi back? Missed the bus? Need to get to a meeting a few blocks away but don't want to arrive sweaty from a run? The answer is there's a share bike already within sight of you that you can rent for (literally) pennies in seconds. (They're also pretty heavy for anything but short distances and not always in great condition. And at least in Berlin where I lived you can get your own bike for $50 or so, which I had. But I still like the idea.)
paganel 7y ago
> why wouldn't someone just buy a bike? I live in a crowded European capital city (Bucharest) and one of the big reasons for me not buying a bike is that I don't have enough available place. I personally live in an one-bedroom apartment (before that I used to live in a studio) and yes, I could probably fit a bike somewhere around the place but that would be pretty inconvenient. I also live on the 8th floor and a regular bike doesn't fit in my building's elevator, so that would mean me having to carry it 8 floors up and down each time I wanted to ride it. My gf does have a bicycle but for the reasons I mentioned above she decided to keep it at her office, which is at walking distance from where we currently live (about 10-15 minutes).
dagw 7y ago
For example, why wouldn't someone just buy a bike? If you buy a bike you lose some flexibility. With bike sharing I can take the bus to work, take a bike to my meeting and then decide whether to take the bus or bike home depending on the weather and my plans. I can also do things like take the bus into town and then take the bike from the bus stop to the place I'm going, or bike into town and take the bus home with all my shopping.

track_me_now 7y ago

We have a new bike share in our city that started last fall. Their prices are higher than car share and the riders are scarier on bikes than behind the wheel. They are electric pedal-assist bikes as well, and provincial laws require the use of a helmet. How many people who use a bike share bring their own helmet with them? How can a company create a business model that obviously & intentionally breaks the law? Because uber & airbnb taught them to disregard the rules, heavily subsidize your product and your users will force the change you require.