Originally Posted by
noglider
So do you think I could start a staffing agency and find job seekers and put them on bikes, running around the city? Or do you think the opportunity would be like magnets, offering $2 or $3 a ride?
I looked around at the streets and on the subways today. Everyone had somewhere to go. If I stopped you on the way to work and asked you to take a quick 10 minute bike ride and I would pay you $3 for it, you'd say, "Naw man, I gotta get to work. I can't take a minute for that sh*t." Well, if you were a New Yorker, you might sound like that.
It's a simple promotion: "free rides between certain stations;" "free trial bike-share rides between certain stations;" "see NYC by bike: free bike-share rides between designated docking stations."
If no one takes advantage of the offers, then you know you're right. Until you try, you only know what you assume.
The other possibility is to charge a premium/surcharge for biking between popular station. The extra money raised from the surcharge could pay people to ride the bikes back. Worst case scenario: you charge enough to pay to bring the bikes back by truck, but the question is whether that is worth anyone's time to load them in the truck and deliver them.