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Charlotte Bike / Scooter Sharing


kermit

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1 hour ago, dubone said:

I've probably seen a dozen knocked over in the last 24 hours.  It's an issue still. 

I whole-heartedly agree that much of this would not be an issue if bike infrastructure were move common.  An increase in how many bikes are out there is not implicitly a problem.   I like the idea of leaning in on all this and just remedying the negatives while continuing the grow the number.   The market is clearly there. 

 

Is there a particular area or circumstance we’re you’re seeing them knocked down or a reoccurring area?  Or is it just random as far as location, surrounding, etc?

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Since I am possibly the cheapest man alive I tend to seek out the Limebike Bonus bikes. Over the past week I have discovered that about 2/3rds of these bikes actually don't exist -- I go to their location (per the app) and.... nothing. While its possible a few of them may have been really well hidden away I am certain that a large portion of them are simply ghosts on the app.

Anybody else run into this?

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9 hours ago, kermit said:

Since I am possibly the cheapest man alive I tend to seek out the Limebike Bonus bikes. Over the past week I have discovered that about 2/3rds of these bikes actually don't exist -- I go to their location (per the app) and.... nothing. While its possible a few of them may have been really well hidden away I am certain that a large portion of them are simply ghosts on the app.

Anybody else run into this?

Just used the app for the first time today and all of the bikes on the map were in their location shown. Only problem was some of them were under maintenance but still showing as available on the app. 

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The O has an update on dockless ridership:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article207792629.html

23,000+ dockless rides in February (with 9,000 of those rides in the last week of the month). Bcycle implied they got about 6,000 rides per month (although the time period they provided data for included late summer and Fall).

I was once a bcycle member, but its now clear that there is nothing more analogue in a digital world than docked bikeshare.

Edited by kermit
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1 minute ago, SgtCampsalot said:

I've now ridden each bike share company in the city and can say that I don't think any of them are in any way comfortable to ride.

I am open to the possibility that either I am just too tall (I am tall), or I am too accustomed to road bikes/mountain bikes for my own good.

Opinions?

I have tried two (ofo and Lime) and found ofo to be totally unacceptable due to my height. I think Lime is OK when the seatpost and the gear shifter still works. Its heavy and clunky and the gearing sucks on anything but the flat, but I have decided they are perfectly reasonable transportation when I would rather not walk. I have also been pleasantly surprised that they are maintained relatively well.

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4 hours ago, SgtCampsalot said:

I've now ridden each bike share company in the city and can say that I don't think any of them are in any way comfortable to ride.

I am open to the possibility that either I am just too tall (I am tall), or I am too accustomed to road bikes/mountain bikes for my own good.

Opinions?

Maybe bcycle can make this their thing. The niche bikes for taller, wider, whateverer people and you'll always know where to find them.

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  • 1 month later...

Over the past few weeks I have tried (or attempted to) all of the available bike share companies...

Observations:

  1. I underestimated the convenience of these bikes... bcycle has to figure out how to stay relevant.
    • bcycle has lost another loyal customer...
  2. The actual experience is a mixed bag.
    • For instance Spin Bike's kickstand is total PITA for someone with big feet... sneakers kept catching on to the kickstand.
    • I tried 4 different times to rent a Mobike - their app WOULD NOT take any credit card I used...
    • Also, Mobike seemed to have the most out-of-commission bikes - one even had a pedal just laying there.
    • Lime bike is pretty heavy and kickstand placement is in such a place where a slight slope or a moderate wind cause the bike to fall over.
    • Ofo seems to have the least bikes (at least 1st ward) but the bikes we rode did not stand out from the rest in any way.
    • All companies have a ways to go to make the apps more accurate...
  3. I really appreciate that the city and the bike share companies cleaned up their act of staging bikes and also, Spin and Limebike both ask quick (up/down) questions (was the bike parked properly? was the bike away from the road? etc). So, the process of educating the riders/customers is there, at least to some extent.
  4. Enclave and Quarterside apartments (McDowell St @ 7th) saw a bunch of bikes in the garage or near the building... seems like folks are "reserving" bikes so they have quick access. (Enclave had at least 10 bikes in the garage (across all brands).
  5. I've found these bikes deep in (not Uptown) neighborhoods (Grier Heights and Echo Hills)

So, I was wrong about bcycle being better!  The ease of use with Spin/Lime/Ofo and the decent availability has won me over.

Edited by Scribe
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I just got done riding limebike around Ballantyne corporate and to the greenways around south Charlotte after a couple hours. I think it’s 4 mile greenway and McMullen. 

 

Ive ridden all over south Charlotte with limebike. All over dilworth. Really, all over charlotte except university and northlake. Can’t do that on BCycle

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2 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I just got done riding limebike around Ballantyne corporate and to the greenways around south Charlotte after a couple hours. I think it’s 4 mile greenway and McMullen. 

 

Ive ridden all over south Charlotte with limebike. All over dilworth. Really, all over charlotte except university and northlake. Can’t do that on BCycle

Exactly right!  I live uptown and most of my activities are within a few miles away.   I'm a b-cycle member.   I still choose to pay the $1 a decent amount because the new bikes have working brakes compared to b-cycle's hopes and dreams that you'll stop, and because of this unlimited destination model.   

I'd love to see something like a city tax placed on these bikes and fines for any bikes that are not in safe working order and other things that need incentives to improve on, and then that fund a special coffer that goes to bike lanes and bike parking.     In the end they are great things,  but even better if growth in this arena helps to fund some growth of bike parking and bike lanes and returning some of this industry's revenue to the public good to offset their negatives. 

I love that people are riding these far, but I wonder if that is a transit and bike situation rather than a true long distance ride.   

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1 hour ago, kermit said:

Lime electric scooters have arrived:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article210659229.html

Clt is said to be the third city on the east coast to get them.

These are awesome!  I used the Bird scooters in San Diego on a recent trip that was about 4 miles.  Cost was about $7 and fun as hell.  That's less of a trip distance than the Convention Center to Habersish and a little under the Convention Center to Park Road Shopping Center.  

Drivers are going to need to learn how to share the roads even more and scooter users need to stay off the sidewalks but these are a game changer for the transportation network.  

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12 hours ago, dubone said:

I'd love to see something like a city tax placed on these bikes and fines for any bikes that are not in safe working order and other things that need incentives to improve on, and then that fund a special coffer that goes to bike lanes and bike parking. 

I'd like to see bike lanes and parking but not at the expense of taxing bikes to make them more expensive to use.  I'd rather tax cars (more) to fund what you are suggesting.

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52 minutes ago, JBS said:

I'd like to see bike lanes and parking but not at the expense of taxing bikes to make them more expensive to use.  I'd rather tax cars (more) to fund what you are suggesting.

This is really a counterproductive line of thinking,

If bikes and scooters are going to demand to use the roads equal to cars they should contribute to their construction and maintenance.  Ownership comes with privileges.  It doesn't have to be much but expecting a free ride is a sure ticket to not deserving a seat at the transportation table in the eyes of most everyone out there.  It essentially groups people who commute on a bike to equal status of kids on their BMX.  

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1 hour ago, cjd5050 said:

Drivers are going to need to learn how to share the roads even more and scooter users need to stay off the sidewalks but these are a game changer for the transportation network.  

I believe in North Carolina these will be regulated under the same law that was written for segways which will keep them off many roads in town and put them on sidewalks.... but I may be totally wrong.

"An electric personal assistive mobility device may be operated on public highways with posted speeds of 25 miles per hour or less, sidewalks, and bicycle paths."

 https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_20/GS_20-175.6.html

Edited by CLT2014
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59 minutes ago, dylansukkert said:

Has anyone seen the Lime scooters?! Just saw one while walking the rail trail. Looks like no physical activity required. Also looks to be $1 a ride. 

plus 0.15 cents per minute over 15 I think.

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