Comments on: All About the Docks

By: Danilo Bessa

Danilo Bessa — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 13:11:16 +0000

I am afraid that in some cities here In Brazil, a lot of bikes would be stolen. What do you think?

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:12:20 +0000

Seriously, disposal cardboard helmets? This probably negates much of environmental benefits of using the bikes. Might as well just drive. Any the cost. It would be better just to invest in more bike lanes. It is much better to reduce collisions than trying to make collision a bit safer.

By: gpsman

gpsman — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:19:17 +0000

Here, you leave a unlocked bike on the street and in 10 minutes it will be on its way to the scrapyard.

By: Marc

Marc — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:52:25 +0000

I would have to think that topography and climate will always play a part. Pittsburgh is an awesome city, but I’m not sure bike sharing would take off there for the simple reason that it’s such an incredibly hilly city. (Though even in the hilliest of cities there are still some trips that will be minimal elevation change.)

Public transit also plays a role. I think that people are a lot more likely to use bikesharing if they know they have the option of taking transit for the return trip, particularly if there’s an iffy weather forecast, or if they’re using bikesharing to get to the pub but want the option of not having to BUI home after.

I do agree that density of bike sharing stations matters. In other words, go big or go home. If a city tries to lowball the initial install with just a few stations widely dispersed, not many people will use the system, and public opinion will swing against the whole concept.

By: Gerry Gaffney

Gerry Gaffney — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:40:57 +0000

I’ve done some informal user research at a few of the docks in the Melbourne scheme, and believe that the mandatory helmet law does indeed explain the poor uptake.

Attempts to have low-cost helmets available to purchase “nearby” are of limited effectiveness.

There does appear to be a gradual increase in usage, but it’s still very low in comparison to European cities.

By: Hendrik

Hendrik — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:09:12 +0000

@fred_dot_u The illusion of safety can be said for any traffic safety measure. Having a bike line at least will give a clear signal to all road users that cars are no longer the only users of the road anymore.

I was happy to see all the extra and new bikelanes in Paris when using the Vélib system. Even though you had to share it a lot of times with buses and taxi’s, it did give me a solid place in the chaotic Parisian traffic. (Traffic Circle’s excluded, because that’s no-mans land)

By: fred_dot_u

fred_dot_u — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:15:44 +0000

“The first, and rather obvious, rule of thumb is that the more bike friendly a place is — the more lanes, the more fellow cyclists — the better bike sharing will be received.”

Which only fosters the illusion that bike lanes make for safer riding.

By: djangosChef

djangosChef — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:45:18 +0000

Some would argue that the mandatory helmet law is itself the damper.

By: Brian Ogilvie

Brian Ogilvie — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:10:00 +0000

Here in Paris (my temporary home), I can see the effect of commuting patterns on the Vélib’ stations. Where I live, near the place de la Nation, the station at the end of my street is usually full, or nearly so, in the morning. By noontime, there are only a couple bikes left, often those that are in bad condition or unrideable. By late afternoon they’re trickling back in, and one evening around 10:30 p.m. they were full and I had to go to two other stations to find an empty place.

The firm that runs the system, JC Decaux, uses trucks to cart bikes around. They’ve also instituted a system that gives users 15 free minutes (which can be banked for future rides) if they take a bike from a station that is under 60 m in elevation and return it at one that is above 60 m, since the general trend of bikes is downward. I’ve accumulated a free half hour so far. The catch is that if you leave a bike at one of those stations and come back later, you might find yourself having to walk a ways downhill to find another bike. The incentive system could be generalized if they wanted, e.g. extra minutes for leaving a bike at a station that has only a few bikes at it.

I will say that the density of stations in Paris is high, which makes the system a lot better than one where stations are spaced further apart. Here they’re supposed to be no more than 300 m (about 2/10 mile) apart, so you’re never more than a few minutes’ walk from one.