Thanks for the summary, Robbie. And don't worry, I'd never take you for anyone's spokesperson ;)
I understand the excitement behind this program; it's unfortunate that this didn't come up as part of an annual budget so it could be considered in the context of the bicycle program as a whole. Kathryn Kingsbury www.kathrynkingsbury.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynkingsbury Skype: kathryn.kingsbury ________________________________ From: Mitchell Nussbaum <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, January 25, 2011 4:31:23 PM Subject: Re: [Bikies] City investing in Rental bikes Yes, thank you Robbie, for your answers and for keeping us informed about this issue. - Genie Ogden --- On Tue, 1/25/11, India Rose Viola <[email protected]> wrote: >From: India Rose Viola <[email protected]> >Subject: Re: [Bikies] City investing in Rental bikes >To: "Robbie Webber" <[email protected]>, "Mitchell Nussbaum" ><[email protected]> >Cc: [email protected] >Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 3:45 PM > > >Thanks Robbie. > >-india > >On 01/25/11, Robbie Webber wrote: >> There have been some very good questions asked, some of which I had myself >>yesterday, some still to be answered. People below already addressed some of >>this while I was writing, but I'm just going to send my whole post anyway. >> >> >> >> >> I urged people with opinions or questions to come to the PBMVC meeting to >>comment, or bring up their questions. Or, if you really only want answers or >>are >>curious, watch the PBMVC meeting on City Channel or streaming on-line. >> >> >> >> >> I can't answer all the questions, nor do i want to be responsible for being >> the >>spokesperson for B-Cycle, but there are a few I can tackle. >> >> >> 1. This really won't compete with bike shops, in the same way that Community >>Car doesn't really compete with Enterprise. One is for short trips and >>last-minute need to run errands, while the other is for longer rentals. >> >> >> >> >> 2. B-Cycle (and other bike sharing programs) also allow you to return the >> bike >>to a different location than where you rented it. This is very useful if you >>want to go from your office in the Capitol area down to Memorial Union, the >>Kohl >>Center, or over to UW Hospital. You only need to get there, drop off the >>bike, >>and then deal with the next trip when you are ready. Maybe someone is picking >>you up, or you are taking the bus home, or you can walk from that location. >>How >>many times have I wished I had a bike to go just a one-way trip! >> >> >> >> >> 3. The bikes at bike shops are also far nicer. The B-Cycle bikes are really >>very utilitarian. The representative from Trek actually used the word "tank." >>What you rent at Budget, Willy St, Yellow Jersey, or Machinery Row is a >>basic, >>but decent mountain bike or road bike. You could go do the Cap City Trail on >>a >>bike shop rental. I doubt you'd want to go for a ride of more than a few >>miles >>on a B-Cycle bike. >> >> >> >> >> 4. Many of us on this list ride our bikes all the time, so we may not need >> a >>shared bike to do errands or see the city. But many others do not have a bike >>with them downtown, and would welcome the convenience of being able to pick >>up a >>bike quickly and close to their current location. People who drive, carpool, >>van >>pool, or bus in to work may want to run to a meeting by bike, meet someone >>for >>lunch, or pick up a few things at the store after work. Visitors can get from >>their meeting or hotel to restaurants, events, or tourist sites. They can >>also >>just check out the downtown by bike. >> >> >> >> >> 5. Credit cards mean no change in the machine, meaning less likely target >> for >>theft and vandalism, no need to come empty the machine, and fewer moving >>parts. >>Yeah, it means if you don't have a credit or debit card, you can't use it, >>but I >>can really see the business sense behind that decision. As Kevin pointed out, >>it >>also cuts down on theft and damage of the bikes. >> >> >> >> >> 6. Affordability. I believe there is a $10 initial membership, which is sort >> of >>a drag for people that just want to try it out, or for visitors that are >>unlikely to be able to use the system for more than one or two days. I'm >>going >>to confirm this tonight. I also didn't get the full list of charges, because >>I >>was busy typing when that slide came up. I think it was $1 for the first 1/2 >>hour, and maybe a couple dollars per hour in general. Again, I'll need to >>confirm tonight. >> >> >> >> >> OK, I have to go do other things. I'll probably post some of this as a blog >>tomorrow, after getting more info. In the meantime, and since the Red >>Bike/Yellow Bikes have come up again, I'll direct you to a blog I did in >>December: >> >> >> What ever happened to the Red Bikes? >>http://frontporchcoffeetalk.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-ever-happened-to-red-bikes-program.html >>l >> >> >> >> >> >> Robbie Webber >> Bike Walk Madison Steering Committee >> www.bikewalkmadison.org(http://www.bikewalkmadison.org) >> Join our group on Facebook! >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 11:03 AM, Mitchell Nussbaum >><[email protected] <[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> > >> >> > >> > >> > >> >> > I have a few questions about this. Why only credit cards? This will limit >>who can use the bikes. >> > >> >> > Would the bikes be out year-round? Some people >> >> > will ride bikes in the winter. If they are not out year-round, when will >>they be out? The GPS systems seem a little strange. If someone's in a hurry >>to >>get somewhere using a bike, will they really be looking at that? >> > >> >> > >> >> > It is a lot of money, especially when the city is having a hard time >> > covering >>other things. This is a nice program, but why was it brought up so suddenly? >> Bike shops already rent bikes. And there are boat rentals in a couple of the >>parks which benefit the city and I believe the city does not pay the >>companies >>to do it, the company pays rent TO the city. >> > >> >> > >> > >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Bikies mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > >-- >India Viola >Stretton Lab >115 Zoology Research >1117 W. Johnson St. >Madison, WI 53706 >608.262.3336 > >"How can we learn from our mistakes if we don't first acknowledge them?" >-Anonymous > >Corporations are not citizens. Money is not speech. >
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