Originally Posted by
znomit
Yes we had the same scheme in my town, same problems. Its evolved into a cheap source of beater commuter bikes mainly for the university students.
Flat tyre? Take the bus to university and get another bike to ride home on.
A friend has had 5 bikes through them, leaves them in the garden whenever she moves.
This is why paying a small amount is a good idea.
In order to get a bike out of the kiosk, you have to insert a credit card. At the Democratic convention, the borrower had to fill out an ID form and provide a credit card. While this doesn't stop ID theft, have a $300+ charge to your card would certainly stop the leaving the bike where ever you happened to drop it.
We've had a loaner bike program in the Denver area too. Those bikes just evaporated. Colorado State University had a 'bike library' program that uses abandoned bikes for their loaners. It's highly successful with a fairly low attrition rate. But, again, there are penalties for not returning the bike.