I-Like-To-Bike

If she or others had any interest in riding a bike in from the gate to the work site after being dropped off and back to the gate at the end of the day for car pickup, a personally owned bike carried on a bike rack would serve the same purpose and provide the same benefit and is available without waiting for somebody else to provide a bike share program.

Roody

That's true. I didn't know if that would be allowed. But a bike share--even one established and funded by the workers themselves--would be more practical and convenient, IMO.

t x

IIRC, Zipcar has a daily mileage limit of somewhere around 200mi per day. After that I think they charge you an additional fee per mile.

In response to OP, I've used Zipcar regularly in multiple cities for the past 5 years and love it.

I-Like-To-Bike

IMO, a bike share program established and funded by the workers themselves is a very impractical solution to commuting to/within a worksite, hence AFAIK the non existence of such a program anywhere at any work site or demand for one.

Roody

Then it's time somebody tried it! Nobody ever did anything...until somebody did it.

I-Like-To-Bike

Why is it time that "somebody" try your good idea and waste their resources on trying it in the absence of ANY demand from anybody but you? And you are not a customer for such a service, but rather have another good idea that "somebody" else should pay for and "somebody" else should use.

oronzous

I prefer car2go business model. No subscription fees, can be dropped in a different place.
If I need more than that Enterprise or other traditional car rental is good for me.

keyven

Obviously it's up to others to pick up on the idea IF they think it's worth their time.

People who have good ideas may not have a use for it at this point in their life. Doesn't mean it shouldn't ever be shared.

FWIW the idea is out there - who knows, maybe one day it will reach the ears of a non-bikeforumer and become a reality. You just won't know it.

Roody

Thanks. It seems self-evident that in a situation like the military base, having bikes available at the gate so people can be dropped off by a driver is a good idea. There may be more than one couple who could get rid of one car if that "last mile problem" were solved cheaply and easily by a small bike share.

I-Like-To-Bike

Lots of Good Ideas™ seem "self-evident" or "obvious" to you, and to you alone. Maybe that would explain why these "self-evident" and "obvious" solutions that you post about have no substance in reality.

Roody

I'm a dreamer, you're a cynic. Oh well, it takes all kinds.

Not to get on topic, but what do you think about zip cars?

I-Like-To-Bike

I didn't think the OP was looking for negative replies to his query, but to humor you I will respond: No, I have not had any need for renting a Zip Car locally. I have often rented a car from commercial rental car companies for a few days and up to a few weeks after flying into numerous locations over the years; usually for work, sometimes while visiting relatives or on vacation.

BTW, cynic is your term, mine is skeptical (of dreams without a basis in reality.)

Roody

Do they even have zipcars in Burlington? Here, they exist only near the university in East Lansing, nowhere near my house. Thats one big drawback to the car shares--lack of availability.


At one time, zipcar and Uber (and Avis, for that matter) were dreams with no basis in reality.

I-Like-To-Bike

No ZipCars, but taxis are available.

Some of your Good Ideas™, AKA LCF Dreams, expressed on this list are nothing more than your wishful thinking that someday somebody might invent something that will make your dream come true. That you believe the desirability and/or basis of your Good Ideas™ are self evident and obvious doesn't add any credibility to them, nor does it make them any closer to ever becoming a reality.

In the meantime we can all wait for our personal flying cars powered by the sun that can fit in everybody's garage or treehouse.

CompleteStreets

In dense cities, where taxis are ubiquitous, taxis make a lot more sense than zipcar for the vast majority of cases when you wish you had a car IMO. If you venture into less dense areas where taxis are unreliable, of course, zipcar starts to make more sense.

Much more practical for dense cities is Car2Go. It's intended for one-way trips. You pay by the minute, as you do with a taxi. You can park the car anywhere within the city limits and don't ever have to return it to its original location. It's generally slightly cheaper than a taxi. Portland just began adding bike racks to some of the Car2Go fleet. The bike-Car2Go combination is great. Folding bikes with carshare is also a great option.

Roody

Reductio ad absurdum. I said nothing about flying cars.

My modest proposal was to have a few bikes chained to the fence at the military base so that employees who were dropped off at the gate could ride to their work place some distance away. I believe this is a very cheap and practical idea that would probably benefit a few employees. You disagree. Fine. End of story.

But you have made a big fuss about this for at least four posts now, I think you're just trying to get my goat and disrupt yet another thread, so I will stop here.

Roody

Do you happen to know the business model for car2go? IOW, how do they intend to make money with this service?

CompleteStreets

I don't know the detailed business model, but basically the cost to use car2go is approximately $0.40 to $0.50 per minute of driving, depending on the city. People generally use the cars for short trips, so turnover of the cars is very high. No effort is put into redistributing the cars throughout the day, the way that all bikeshare programs do, so there are no labor costs on that end. The Smartcars they use aren't anything fancy. It's a great concept.

Roody

But eventually the cars would get clumped together some place where they aren't needed. They must have to pay drivers to redistribute them at some point.

What is the reliability? If you need a car right now, and the nearest one is parked 5 miles away, it's not very useful.

I'm not trying to hassle you. I think it's an intriguing idea, but I don't understand how it can work!

CompleteStreets

People don't use them much for commuting. Commuting hours are the hours when traffic congestion is the worst, so it doesn't make sense to use car2go at those times because the users are charged by the minute. I'm pretty sure the cars are never redistributed by paid drivers. The reliability isn't perfect, but it's better than you might guess. You would never encounter a situation of being 5 miles from the nearest car. There are hundreds of the cars in any car2go city. The denser the city, the better it works. It wouldn't work well for a sprawling suburb.