Melbourne city bike share

[Westgarth]

I spotted one this morning! It was all the way down in Abbotsford at the Convent in Hellier St being pushed by a tourist/backpacker type.

[sharktamin]

It cant be that hard to provide a helmet dispenser/washer/steriliser for hire helmets can it? I trust the tools my hair stylist uses without too many thoughts. And any copper who fines a valid tourist is (expletive deleted).

The payment system is clumsy, but could be tweaked without too much effort (I would think...) so as long as the maintenance is kept up it should be good. Heavy bonds up front are a killer, even car hire companies dont process the CC forms until a misdemeanor has occured.

The most benefit will go to those who have little storage space or who are temporary visitors. Great if you fly into town for a day or two, or perhaps students in college accomodation without storage facilities.

But for my money Id buy something cheap and take it where I want when I want.

[Aushiker]

Hi

Rottnest Bike Hire which has been in the business of hiring bikes for god knows how long seems to have no problems staying in business and supplying helmets as part of its bike hire business.

From the website linked to ...

Bicycle helmets are required by law; these are supplied with all equipment hired.

Cheers
Andrew

[TheSkyMovesSideways]

It cant be that hard to provide a helmet dispenser/washer/steriliser for hire helmets can it?

I don't think the problem is hygiene, but rather safety. The average user is not going to be able to tell if a helmet they're receiving has been impacted and is no longer safe to use, and there's no one else to inspect helmets between uses. The only way you could do it would be to have a huge supply of helmets at each station, as well as a return bin, and only move helmets from the return bin to the hire bin after they've been inspected.

Rottnest Bike Hire which has been in the business of hiring bikes for god knows how long seems to have no problems staying in business and supplying helmets as part of its bike hire business.

I'm guessing they operate out of a single location, rather than many small stations. That would make helmet hire a lot easier to implement.

[x8pg2qr]

There’s a lot of discussion about why this will/will not succeed rather than how well/poorly the system is used.

To be even more meta, let’s discuss whether this thread will get more or less entertaining.

[human909]

It cant be that hard to provide a helmet dispenser/washer/steriliser for hire helmets can it?

I don't think the problem is hygiene, but rather safety. The average user is not going to be able to tell if a helmet they're receiving has been impacted and is no longer safe to use, and there's no one else to inspect helmets between uses. The only way you could do it would be to have a huge supply of helmets at each station, as well as a return bin, and only move helmets from the return bin to the hire bin after they've been inspected.

You could well be right about that being the reason, but that reason is still as pathetic.

The average user can't tell if their helmet is safe anymore than that their bike is safe. And an unsafe bike is FAR FAR more likely to cause issues than an unsafe helmet. Either way it seems a stupid reason to be hamstringing the bike system when most city bike shares survive just fine without helmets.

There’s a lot of discussion about why this will/will not succeed rather than how well/poorly the system is used.

I'm confused. How can the system be used poorly? You mean using bike share bikes to commit crimes? What?

[Cinder]

Saw four out and about today, on the bridge that crosses the Yarra near the QBH...

Looked and sounded like a group of Japanese tourists (all having a ball), and yup, you guessed it, no helmets in sight...

Good to see it getting used...

[human909]

It would be fantastic if this made politicians think about repealing the helmet laws. Sadly I don't think politicians care.

[Westgarth]

The difficulty with helmets is that the current scheme doesn't have staff on hand, this is obviously unfeasable on a $10 hire out in a car park vending machine type scheme.

Of course if they got volunteers, or maybe work-for-the-unemployment-benefit types, to sit around and hand helmets to the people hiring the bikes it might be more feasible. But again they would have to sit around in a car park all day (if not all night).

[Aushiker]

Hi

A little off-topic but on the subject of bike shares, BikeRadar.com have an article on London's new bike share program.



Andrew

[Aushiker]

Hi

On a related topic, ABC 2 is showing a doco called E2: Transport - Paris: Velo Liberte on Wednesday June 23, 2010 at 8:00 PM. Details here.

Paris is one of the most visited cities by tourists in the world, but also suffers from some of the worst pollution in the European Union. Seven years ago Parisians turned their attention to the environment and their goal is to reduce car traffic in the city by 40% by 2020. Priority is given instead to public transport and other modes of environmentally friendly transport, such as bike riding.

Paris’s ambitious public-private Vélib´ bike-sharing initiative encourages residents to forgo cars for bikes. In the process, the program has fostered a unique popular culture, complete with its own language, jokes and pick-up lines. But in order to be successful, the planners of Vélib´ studied bike-sharing programs of varying success from other cities and worked out that Paris would initially need a minimum of 10,000 bikes to get the program working properly. e2 Transport explains in detail how this wonderful, environmentally friendly transport project works.

The success of the Vélib´ bike-sharing initiative has inspired cities like São Paulo, Venice and London to begin adopting similar programs of their own.

Andrew

[x8pg2qr]

Link


Link

[Westgarth]

That is hilarious, although I don't believe those figures for a minute.

They've obviously been inflated.

[Aushiker]

That is hilarious, although I don't believe those figures for a minute.

They've obviously been inflated.

Hi

And your evidence is?

BTW I know of a SA visitor who went to use one yesterday and there where none available at the stand he visited ....

Andrew

[Westgarth]

Probably all vandalised or stolen!

I was/am being a bit cynical if you didn't already guess.

[jules21]

they were still wheeling them out last night when i rode past the Docklands.

[herzog]

I don't think the problem is hygiene, but rather safety. The average user is not going to be able to tell if a helmet they're receiving has been impacted and is no longer safe to use

Yep definitely that's a big issue. Bike helmets are designed for ONE significant impact. After this they must be destroyed. How would you know?

There's also the issue of fit. An ill fitting helmet can be more dangerous than no helmet at all.

To be honest, the govt really should be giving the bike scheme a special dispensation to be exempt from the helmet requirement.

[jules21]

To be honest, the govt really should be giving the bike scheme a special dispensation to be exempt from the helmet requirement.

fat chance. guess how the first person who fell over and hit their head would show their gratitude? i'm sure their insurer has a pretty good idea and would insist on helmet wearing to keep the premium down.

[herzog]

To be honest, the govt really should be giving the bike scheme a special dispensation to be exempt from the helmet requirement.

fat chance. guess how the first person who fell over and hit their head would show their gratitude? i'm sure their insurer has a pretty good idea and would insist on helmet wearing to keep the premium down.

They can legislate against that too.

[jules21]

They can legislate against that too.

in theory, but introducing legislation that makes the govt or another 3rd party immune from litigation would be controversial and is arguably an infringement of people's rights.

[herzog]

They can legislate against that too.

in theory, but introducing legislation that makes the govt or another 3rd party immune from litigation would be controversial and is arguably an infringement of people's rights.

I actually think they are more exposed if they get into the business of providing helmets. Helmets that are not fitted and are not inspected for damage.

[Westgarth]

Good thing the liability would be assumed by the TAC in most instances, not the insurer.

[IkaInk]

There are so many problems with this scheme it will struggle to get 200 uses a day. The reason these systems have worked overseas is they have offered convenience that was not previously offered in whatever city you're talking about.

The system in Melbourne is not convenient for a number of reasons:

• Firstly and most importantly Helmets
• Too few stations
• All stations are in the CBD which already has adequete public transport, and isn't very bike friendly
• Day or weekly trips require a deposit, so you have to have funds available for this in the first place

Of course the system hasn't been thought out very well either, for some absurd reason it falls under Tim Pallas, Roads Minister's portfolio instead of Martin Pakula who is the Minister for Public Transport.

I've gone into more detail at my blog if anyone cares to read.
http://www.ikaink.net/blog/?p=696

[kukamunga]

One small plus for CBD bike retailers is that helmet sales are slightly up.....

[il padrone]

Even the mainstream media commentators are realising the scheme (and helmet rule) needs review.

It's a no-brainer. Who carries a helmet on the off chance they will hire a bike? Which tourists pack one for a trip here?

And who'd want to rent one that's been drenched with someone's sweat, speckled with their dandruff, slickened with their gel or infested with their nits?

In fact, Big Nanny strikes even there. So weighed with responsibility for the idiocy of others are we that Melbourne Bike Share won't rent helmets, anyway: "If we were to provide helmets with the bikes we would need to check every helmet after each ride to ensure they are not damaged - and are clean."

Brilliant. So to save us from an unsafe helmet, it provides none at all.