Evidently the bikies list supports not the attachment. Here's stock images to stand in:
https://assets.fastcompany.com/image/upload/w_596,c_limit,q_auto:best,f_auto,fl_lossy/fc/3068900-inline-i-1-with-this-stationless-bike-share-system-you-can-park-your-bike-anywhere.jpg https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/imageuploadedfromios.jpg On Sun, Jul 30, 2017 at 6:31 PM, Scott Morris Rose <stink...@gmail.com> wrote: > I was a founding member of Seattle's "Pronto!" bike share program - a > conventional system with docks - but it lost a lot of money and the city, > which subsidized it, put a fork in it after briefly considering replacing > it with a different subsidized system with electric-assist bikes. From the > ashes of that subsidized system have arisen two competing unsubsidized > systems - Lime and Spin - which both use a dockless model. The way that > works is that the bikes have wheel locks that are unlocked when the bike is > rented. Locking the wheel lock ends the rental. There are some trade-offs > between the models, which mostly in my view skew in favor of the dockless > systems. > > With a dockless system, there is never the problem that a user will arrive > at the dock closest to their destination only to find that they can't end > the rental due to a full dock. There is also never the problem that the > dock is further from the user's destination (as long as the destination is > in the service area, which is the Seattle city limits for both systems) > that they have a substantial hike to that destination - users park the bike > wherever they can find empty sidewalk. There is no concept of membership - > users install an app and pay only for each of the rides they take - both > systems at $1/.5h. (There is also no escalating charge for longer rentals - > each .5h segment is $1.) That lowers the barrier to entry for visitors, who > only need to install and configure an app on their phones. > > On the downside, there is nothing to keep a malevolent passerby from > chucking a bike into the Ship Canal, as the bikes aren't tethered to a dock > or anything else between rentals. How substantial a problem that is, only > time will tell, but evidently it has been a problem with the similar system > in Manchester, and is a problem in Mountain View with Google's free bikes. > First time I saw a dockless share system was several years ago in Kyoto, > and I suspect they have very little problem there with vandalism, because > Japan. > > I had a chance to see the systems in action during my Seattle trip this > weekend, and I've attached photos of the bikes, which I didn't try as I had > my own bike with me. I did install the Spin app, and it's simple both to > configure and to use. Bikes of both systems were very prevalent in the > neighborhoods I rode in, mostly along the Ship Canal (U District, Fremont, > Ballard) and downtown. And people were riding them. > > Another issue is with helmets, use of which is required by law in King > County. Neither Lime nor Spin offer helmets with their bike or as a > distinct rental, while Pronto! provided them with each bike, along with a > presumably expensive scheme for cleaning them. That's going to lead to > rampant scofflaw behavior. Or, more accurately, continue rampant scofflaw > behavior - even many people on their own bikes ignore the law. > > -- > S. Rose > > > > > > -- S. Rose
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