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Phil (ascentale)

@xtaran asks:

Triggered by urbanists.social/@straphanger/

Q5. What are participants' views on bike sharing in general? Especially because most participants seem to be avid riders and most if not all seem to have their own cycle.

Do you use bike sharing services? Even if you have your own cycle? Do you only use bike sharing services if you are in another town? Do you have preferences for specific bike sharing services? If so, why?

@xtaran A5. I thought it was pretty cool to see Timothee ride in on a bikeshare. I read a follow-up where he did it to avoid traffic, but was charged an improper locking fee by Lime. I know he can afford it, but I hope they waived it.

@xtaran A5, cont:
But to actually answer the question - I actually had a membership here when bike share was first made available. Theft is an issue here, so if there was a docking station near the start end of where I needed to go, I'd often take bike share. I ran into a few problems where the stations were empty and imbalanced, or full and so I found myself having to ride to a different station and then walk. I cancelled my membership after a year - they raised prices, and I didn't find the system reliable enough for the cost.

I like having the option of riding a cycle when I travel, so I appreciate seeing bikeshare in other cities. Often it's fairly expense compared to bus/subway though. I borrowed one to pick up some pizza when recently in New York, because I hadn't been on a bike in a while and because it was the fastest way to get that pizza.

One weird potential positive of Lyft gobbling up bikeshares is that their Pink(?) membership might allow use of bikes in multiple cities.

@ascentale @xtaran A5: I use them in other cities when I am visiting - most recently in Honolulu and Portland. Love them when they are convenient though sometimes the pricing isn't ideal but I love biking so it's worth it. I've rented bikes for longer durations before too but now that bike share has grown it's a great option. I don't have any preferences since usually it seems like there's only one main option for places I've been