Charlotte Bike / Scooter Sharing

[Spartan]

On 1/12/2018 at 1:21 PM, pathb said:

... another tweet highlighting the actual issues with use of our public space.  If we replace a couple of car-parking spaces (average occupancy 1.59) and replace them with a dozen parking spaces for bicycles (occupancy for 12+), add geofencing in bike corrals, then perhaps our public space will start to function a bit better and look significantly less cluttered.  

 

 

 

As a regular cyclist, I'd rather the racks be used by people who need to lock up to something.

 

 

[archiham04]

CMPD brought up bike share at the plaza midwood meeting last night.  They were very biased (against) in their approach.  they basically asked for a show of hands for anyone that thought they posed a problem.  4 out of 50 raised their hands... then they asked anyone with complaints to bring them forward.  Someone spoke up in favor... they kind of shrugged it off and said thanks, but we are looking for complaints.

[SgtCampsalot]

31 minutes ago, archiham04 said:

CMPD brought up bike share at the plaza midwood meeting last night.  They were very biased (against) in their approach.  they basically asked for a show of hands for anyone that thought they posed a problem.  4 out of 50 raised their hands... then they asked anyone with complaints to bring them forward.  Someone spoke up in favor... they kind of shrugged it off and said thanks, but we are looking for complaints.

Serious question, in case one finds themselves in a similar meeting where police are speaking in the same manner: Is there any productive way to discourse with them? After all, their entire existence is predicated on the idea of "reacting" to things. Do they even have a role to play otherwise?

[kermit]

I renewed my Bcycle membership three weeks ago but haven’t used it yet — Lime bikes have always been more convenient and much cheaper than I had anticipated thanks to random promotions and relocation freebies.

in addition the Geocheing aspect of dockless is a feature, not a bug

Edited February 1, 2018 by kermit

[KickinChicken23]

Walked through Uptown last weekend and before I even said it the wife commented how junky the city looks with these bikes just parked all over the place. Its not a good look, there's certainly a better system than just let people leave them wherever they want in whatever condition they want. 

More biking = good 

Bikes sitting everywhere to look like kids left them in their parents yard = bad 

[Scribe]

6 minutes ago, KickinChicken23 said:

there's certainly a better system than just let people leave them wherever they want in whatever condition they want. 

Agree completely!

Bike corrals  that replace on street parking spot sound like a good place to start TBH. We were at First Ward Park and went up to Duckworths to grab a bite to eat, there were at least a dozen bikes knocked over. Sad, honestly, if someone is doing this on purpose, I would a like a word or two with that person.

[CTiger]

1 minute ago, Scribe said:

Agree completely!

Bike corrals  that replace on street parking spot sound like a good place to start TBH. We were at First Ward Park and went up to Duckworths to grab a bite to eat, there were at least a dozen bikes knocked over. Sad, honestly, if someone is doing this on purpose, I would a like a word or two with that person.

I don't think people are doing it on purpose.  Our neighborhood looked like a minefield of them this morning.  I think the wind and rain knock them over.  People don't realize that kickstand + wet grass/mud = bike on its side.  I think you are right that paved areas near desirable locations where these things can be parked out of the way would alleviate most of the issues.  

[kermit]

What can we do about the problems created by dockless cars?

FWIW the bikes have been pretty well managed in Dilworth and Southend over the past couple of weeks. They have generally been parked in appropriate places and toppled bikes have been relatively rare.

 

Edited February 2, 2018 by kermit

[Scribe]

29 minutes ago, kermit said:

What can we do about the problems created by dockless cars?

You guys love to harp about that, but the automotive industry has had over a century of regulation and controls enacted.

It would be a valid argument maybe a few years after Model T was released and cities/towns did not know how to deal with it all.

[15895]

Cars are better because they have those big surface lots where they are kept neatly 

[kermit]

3 minutes ago, Scribe said:

You guys love to harp about that, but the automotive industry has had over a century of regulation and controls enacted.

It would be a valid argument maybe a few years after Model T was released and cities/towns did not know how to deal with it all.

Yea, I guess the problem has pretty much been solved already...

Edited February 2, 2018 by kermit

[go_vertical]

33 minutes ago, kermit said:

What can we do about the problems created by dockless cars?

FWIW the bikes have been pretty well managed in Dilworth and Southend over the past couple of weeks. They have generally been parked in appropriate places and toppled bikes have been relatively rare.

 

Yeah, I'm just not seeing the same problem that others are. Maybe I'm happening upon a cluster of them right after an employee has distributed/organized them. Sure, there is the occasional instance of one knocked over here or there or a couple blocking the right of way, but more often that not I'm witnessing decently placed bikes.

[Scribe]

15 minutes ago, kermit said:

Yea, I guess the problem has pretty much been solved already.

That is simple, you call in 311 or police for that matter and have it towed. With dockless bikes there are no enforceable rules. The "rules" are there for each company, but no department has authority to do anything about it.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Scribe

[kermit]

33 minutes ago, Scribe said:

That is simple, you call in 311 or police for that matter and have it towed. With dockless bikes there are no enforceable rules. The "rules" are there for each company, but no department has authority to do anything about it.

Are you saying that the Merceedes parked over the curb ramp is not as big a problem as a toppled over Lime bike? What if you are in a wheelchair and need to get down off that curb?

Do folks really feel like we need a full-on big-government policy to regulate where bikes are parked? Are American's really so delicate that that are unable to  move a bike from a sidewalk without a tow truck and the police? Having said that, I do feel like some thoughtful formal policies are necessary, but lets not get  trumpstracted away from the bigger problem here. Bad car parking can have fatal consequences, bad bike parking is a nuisance at worst.  

[Scribe]

14 minutes ago, kermit said:

Are you saying that the Merceedes parked over the curb ramp is not as big a problem as a toppled over Lime bike?

I will bite, since you hold bicycles to a different standard..

What happens when a visually impaired or a wheelchair bound person walk on a sidewalk that is blocked by 4+ bikes toppled?

With the car, like I said, that person can actually call 311/police and report it and have to deal with finding a roundabout way to get around the obstacle. With bikes, there is no one they can really call, and with visually impaired they can trip and get hurt worse then bumping into a stationary car.

No need for nanny state, we need clear rules that are defined and a weekend of enforcement and the problem will subside.

[kermit]

46 minutes ago, Scribe said:

I will bite, since you hold bicycles to a different standard..

What happens when a visually impaired or a wheelchair bound person walk on a sidewalk that is blocked by 4+ bikes toppled?

With the car, like I said, that person can actually call 311/police and report it and have to deal with finding a roundabout way to get around the obstacle. With bikes, there is no one they can really call, and with visually impaired they can trip and get hurt worse then bumping into a stationary car.

No need for nanny state, we need clear rules that are defined and a weekend of enforcement and the problem will subside.

I do hold bikes to a different standard. Is that inappropriate? Bikes weigh about 2,000lbs less than cars, they can be moved/dragged/rolled to a different location by 90% of humans without assistance, they waste about 1/20th of the space of cars when they are being stored, they have substantial public health benefits, they promote mobility/walkability for all and they discourage sprawl. As a bonus they don't generate more than 100 fatalities per day. So yea, I hold bikes to a different standard.

The situation you describe is a bad one that we should work to avoid. Hopefully the next humans to come by will see the problem and fix it. Cars block sidewalks far more frequently than any bikes do and passers-by are much more reluctant to solve the problem due to a reluctance to get involved, or piss off the neighbors or they just choose to ignore the 2,000 lb box in their way.  Regardless the willingness of passers-by to fix the problem, the car poses the same risk to the visually impaired as a toppled bike.

 

 

[Scribe]

Well, then you keep your bias and I will keep mine.

 

18 minutes ago, kermit said:

Regardless the willingness of passers-by to fix the problem, the car poses the same risk to the visually impaired as a toppled bike.

As someone who has a visually impaired sibling, I would like to challenge that. A visually impaired person walking into a large slab of metal vs walking into a pile of weird shaped objects strewn on the ground.

19 minutes ago, kermit said:

Cars block sidewalks far more frequently than any bikes do

Since the introduction of dockless bikes to our dear city, I will go ahead and disagree with this for Uptown and the neighborhoods surrounding it.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Scribe

[kermit]

1 hour ago, Scribe said:

Since the introduction of dockless bikes to our dear city, I will go ahead and disagree with this for Uptown and the neighborhoods surrounding it.

This is within 100 ft of my house (in a neighborhood adjacent to uptown) and it’s been there all day. 

There is not a bike in sight.

Edited February 2, 2018 by kermit

[Popsickle]

3 minutes ago, kermit said:

This is within 100 ft of my house (in a neighborhood adjacent to uptown) and it’s been there all day. 

There is not a bike in sight.

Did you report it to the proper authorities or just beotch about it online?

[Scribe]

13 minutes ago, Popsickle said:

just beotch about it

He wants to demonize cars while glorifying bikes.

Without the flexibility and freedom of cars the US economy would be that of a post soviet block.

In that picture - that's a contractor fixing up a house for someone who wants a more "urban" experience.

That house gets sold or was sold and the new owner pays property taxes which go into the city coffers, then that money goes into public safety, transit, parks etc.

I would love to see where we would be in @kermit 's utopian bike world -  find it very shortsighted to be so anti-car yet want the benefits of a strong economy.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Scribe

[SgtCampsalot]

11 minutes ago, Scribe said:

Without the flexibility and freedom of cars the US economy would be that of a post soviet block.

Edit: I mean, technically yes, sure. But still...

GROAN

Edited February 2, 2018 by SgtCampsalot

[kermit]

^Take a breath dude.   I am pretty impressed that you were able to twist my suggestion that cars shouldn't block sidewalks into a manifesto -- nicely done.

 

21 minutes ago, Scribe said:

He wants to demonize cars while glorifying bikes.

Without the flexibility and freedom of cars the US economy would be that of a post soviet block.

In that picture - that's a contractor fixing up a house for someone who wants a more "urban" experience.

That house gets sold or was sold and the new owner pays property taxes which go into the city coffers, then that money goes into public safety, transit, parks etc.

I would love to see where we would be in @kermit 's utopian bike world -  find it very shortsighted to be so anti-car yet want the benefits of a strong economy.

 

Edited February 2, 2018 by kermit

[Scribe]

[kermit]

So it’s a bit more than a mile between me and the People's Workers Hall Teeter. I snapped a few photos as I drove my ‘freedom machine’ there this afternoon.

The score is two cars parked on grass, six cars parked on sidewalks (one semi-permanently)  and one properly parked lime bike. In.one.mile.

I am not saying that bikes don’t have some teething problems but If we are going to beat our chests about pedestrian mobility for the disabled and urban clutter can we quit pretending that bikes are the biggest problem here?

 

Edited February 2, 2018 by kermit

[Scribe]

22 minutes ago, kermit said:

The score is two cars parked on grass, six cars parked on sidewalks (one semi-permanently)  and one properly parked lime bike. In.one.mile.

CALL the cops/311 - you can do that right?

What single point of contact do I have for reporting ~4 different branded bikes piled at an intersection? Last time I checked I had to report it to each operator/company.

 

The cars on the sidewalk should be towed - they will not do it again .... unless they have deep pockets and are complete tools.

About the cars on the grass... is there a "no parking" sign?

Edited February 2, 2018 by Scribe