Originally Posted by
Gresp15C
In my view this is just the result of an investment boom, where people were throwing money at this nascent business without really thinking about whether the business made sense. The only way they could do anything with the money, and keep the business going so they could attract more investment money, was to build more and more bikes.
Look up "dot com bubble" in the US. This is capitalism at its finest.
Somebody basically fleeced a bunch of investors.
Just like stupid dot com investments. Trying to overwhelm the competition with cash.
A shared GPS tracked bike that can be left anywhere sounds great, but it's not going to work. Too much clutter, with parked bikes jamming up sidewalks. They don't require the bikes to be locked? That's just an invitation to trash them.
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B-Cycle runs the bike shares in many US cities. Now, it requires an expensive locking rack, making new stations costly and hard to change later. My B-Cycle subscription is great for going to parks or downtown. I can park at the bike station, and not have to worry about the bike any longer. It's easy to make spur of the moment stops, then get another bike later.
They have plans for a new bike, with GPS locating built in. And the bike basket has a giant integrated U-lock for temporary locking while shopping, etc.
These can be set up to use locking racks, or lock to low cost standard bike racks within
a "geo-fenced" area close to a bike station sign, or even locked anywhere, like the Chinese bikes.
I think the simple stations with low cost bike racks will work great, and the leave-anywhere methods will be banned.