Living Car Free - They're Here

Apparently you need some kind of rfid card to use these things. This station is in front of the municipal building so I guess government workers can use them to go across town to meetings? When I tried to log on to the site, my browser had a hissy fit about security certificates so I didn't want to chance it. I've never seen the message before.

I think there is supposed to be a smart bike station at the train station near the capitol but when I was there last week I didn't notice it. I guess a train commuter ( they don't let bikes on MARC) who works at the municipal building could use these things too.

Apparently you need some kind of rfid card to use these things. This station is in front of the municipal building so I guess government workers can use them to go across town to meetings? When I tried to log on to the site, my browser had a hissy fit about security certificates so I didn't want to chance it. I've never seen the message before.

I think there is supposed to be a smart bike station at the train station near the capitol but when I was there last week I didn't notice it. I guess a train commuter ( they don't let bikes on MARC) who works at the municipal building could use these things too.

The problem with the certificate is that it's for https://www.smartbikedc.com (https://www.smartbikedc.com), not smartbikesdc.com .... it's fine to go to.

what if you don't want to pay the $40/year subscription thingie? Is there a rate just for tourists?

They need to get their site certificates corrected, but it looks like it's for real. At $40 a year it sounds like a steal, even if you use it just occasionally. Even if you were a tourist in town for a couple of days, you could probably make it pay... considering the cost of cabs.

Holy Mackerel!
Those are some fugly bicycles!

Holy Mackerel!
Those are some fugly bicycles!

All the better to make sure they're not stolen. Or, if they are, it gets real obvious where your ride came from.

I've noticed a few other bike stations around now. Yesterday I was showing this one to a friend and a crew from a French TV station started filming me. They guy wanted to film me telling my friend about them but all I knew is that the website doesn't work. I didn't present a good image of America to the French. The French guy said they have a similar smartbike program in France. Sorry I didn't put a plug in for LCF. I hope they found a better spokesperson.

All the better to make sure they're not stolen. Or, if they are, it gets real obvious where your ride came from.

How would that keep them from getting stolen? No one could tell that the thief passing you on one of these didn't rent it. Of course, it's true that they'd be pretty hard to resell, except to people who don't care that they ar stolen.

looks a lot like the ones in stockholm (likewise uggly)

http://www.stockholmcitybikes.se/upload/25/SCB.jpg

(and you can only use them at stupid times
edit: 3 hours at a time between 08 and 18, which makes commuting with them a bit hard
)

I've been seeing people using them. I haven't had a chance to ask a user what he/she thinks.

Here is more information about the program, around the world:

http://www.smartbike.com/