As a Dutchman I am obviously interested (I also read the story this morning), but at the same time I largely fail to see the attraction. I think it is usually far more attractive to own your own commuter bike, than to depend on the availability of such rental bikes. I ride my bike to work, and then back again in the evening. I would hate to have to walk to some facility where I can rent one. That really is too much hassle for me, and potentially too unreliable. What is the point of renting if you can buy one for very little? Of course there are situations where I cannot easily use my regular commuting bike. So, if I take a train to another part of the country, I take my Brompton folding bike. The problem is not the provision of bikes, but the provision of safe bike lanes and traffic calmed environments. The biggest attraction of such schemes to me seems to be as a transition mode. They encourage people to get on a bike again for the first time in maybe decades. And in countries where bike ownership is low, it lowers the cost of a trying to find out if you like it. Thus, the road is reconquered by bikes. As a long term way of doing things, however, I fail to see which problem it actually solves. Commuter bikes are so cheap ... and old beaters all the more so. Willem
On Nov 10, 4:34 pm, "brendan stallard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > <<<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/world/europe/10bike.html>>> > > Michael, > > Anyone any experience in how they work, what the losses might be, > whether the business model works at least not to lose money? > > One of the things that comes to mind for me is that they're likely to > be all 'out' at rush hour, and buckets of 'em free and laced up during > the rest of the time. > > It sounds a great idea, and as a city dweller (half of the time) who > hates buses, I'd be interested. > > brendan --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bicycle Lifestyle" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
