Another bright idea bites the dust
Bronzie
Posts: 4,927
The Velib free bicycle hire system in Paris has run into trouble because the bikes have all been................you guessed it, nicked or vandalised. Human nature eh?
:roll:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7881079.stm
Surprised it works sucessfully in other cities as I seem to remember it was trialled in the UK some years back (Cambridge?) and the same thing happened.
:roll:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7881079.stm
Surprised it works sucessfully in other cities as I seem to remember it was trialled in the UK some years back (Cambridge?) and the same thing happened.
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Quell surprise!Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34335188@N07/3336802663/0 -
Trust the bl**dy French! :twisted:
Now let us see if this thread becomes anti-bigot or anti non-cyclists or anti EU! 0 -
same thing happened in York' From the sharks in the penthouse,
to the rats in the basement,
its not that far '0 -
justresting wrote:same thing happened in York
York had a free bicycle hire?? When?0 -
a long time ago, 12 yrs ? ( somebdy can maybe help me on that ) there was a big fanfare in the Evening Press showing all the newly painted bikes outside the Minster, the idea was you just jumped on the bike, took it to your destination, then presumably somebody would use it to come back into town.
Anyway, soon after it was queitly forgotten !' From the sharks in the penthouse,
to the rats in the basement,
its not that far '0 -
They're thinking of doing it in Brisbane, Queensland as well. Personally I can only wonder how long it is before the dredgers start fishing them out of the river....'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....0
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In St Andrews, all the green bikes disappeared on the first weekend.
In the same van. :roll:
Rozzers knew exactly where to find them and who was responsible. After that they went again, but one by one this time.
It's a real shame. Velib was/is a great boost for cycling in Paris.0 -
Type in Velib freeride into youtube - you'll get the idea !!! :shock:0
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It could possibly work in a one way, downhill direction here in Tenerife, provided someone at the bottom dumps all the bikes on a bus-trailer to bring them back up again.0
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The problems which have hit the Paris Velib scheme could have a very bad effect on the Tfl plan to introduce a similar scheme in London. Tfl looked at various schemes which have been set up un Europe and beyond. The Velib was to be the model for the London offering as one of the beneits was that it could be done without the need for public money to set it up or run it.
If the operator is going to lose money due to theft and damage to the bikes then the chance of a successful scheme in London are substantially reduced. I hope that lessons can be learned from the Paris scheme which will make the London offering viable and successful. A good cycle hire scheme would do much to transform the capital into a cycle friendly city and would form an excellent blueprint for many provincial towns and cities.
The damage caused by the eejits who have lost/stolen/vandalised bikes in Paris could have a bad knock-on effect for the UK. It is particularly frustrating when these numbskulls choose to advertise their brainless antisocial behaviour by filming and posting on YouTube. My guess is that the yoof of Paris are not so different from their counterparts in our own capital.
I hope a solution is found which will enable a London scheme to avoid the problems encountered in Paris and elsewhere.0 -
Surely the answer is to link the hirer (even if it's free to hire) to the bicycle being removed and replaced at another station by way of an ID card of some sort. So if a bike is removed from a rack, but then never gets replaced into another rack (or not within a period of X hours), then the person that removed it gets clobbered with a fine. Would this be so hard to set up?
May not answer the problem of vandalism / being ridden down stairs etc but it would stop them ending up in Ghana.0 -
Quite suprised to hear this, as when I was in Paris a few months ago it all looked to be going very well- lots of them being ridden around, and around the number you'd expect sitting at the stations. I think it's been going for quite some time so there must have been a surge in people pinching them recently- maybe some weakness in the system found that quickly got around?0
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Bronzie wrote:Surely the answer is to link the hirer (even if it's free to hire) to the bicycle being removed and replaced at another station by way of an ID card of some sort. So if a bike is removed from a rack, but then never gets replaced into another rack (or not within a period of X hours), then the person that removed it gets clobbered with a fine. Would this be so hard to set up?
May not answer the problem of vandalism / being ridden down stairs etc but it would stop them ending up in Ghana.
This is the basis of how to make it work surely. Take fast tickets at railway stations. You book the ticket online then stick your credit card in a machine at station and get ticket. Can't bikes be released only with credit card id and returned in same way? That way bikes are linked to people as Bronzie says.
We don't need any id cards or other sensitive additions to proof of person to make it work.Where the neon madmen climb0 -
Apparently the problem was that users we'ren't locking them in place properly and so they could be removed - the story about them turning up in all sorts of third-world countries is sort of amusing..Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0
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In Stockholm, they have (as far as I can remember) a swipe card thing you buy, and you have to return the bike to another rack. Their bikes were very distinctive though - integral front rack, and wheels different sizes. Not heard they'd had problems though...0
