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Revere to get bike sharing on Monday, but not Hubway

On Monday, Revere starts a pilot project with a Chinese company called Ofo. The bikes are bright yellow, and one difference from Hubway is you won't have to return bikes to a designated station - just leave the bike anywhere in Revere where it's legal to leave a bike.

Via the ever adorable Elmer.

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Comments

A Hubway bike almost ran over me on the sidewalk on Berkeley this morning, i wish the tourists that use them know the rules.

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There are no rules!

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A car almost ran over someone somewhere in Boston this morning, I wish the locals that use them know the rules.

Edit: ugh that was meant for Bugs.

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Pro tip: locals walk and take the T. We don't drive in the city. Thanks for playing though!

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The city of boston is large and spawling, just because your apartment that you have lived in for 2 months is right downtown where you can walk everywhere while spending 3k a month in rent does not mean that is the only life people lead in the city.

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Also, water is wet.

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This is a really bad idea. Bikes are going to be abandoned all over the place. Hubway works because bikes have a "home" where they are maintained.

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Why not wait to see how the program actually works before the freak out. Maybe it will suck and maybe it will help solve the problem of cheap transportation for a lot of people. (Maybe both.)

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Granted some hubway riders are a little clueless when it comes to cycling compared to city resident
cyclists, but as a pedestrian I've learned to anticipate that. Revere, you'll get used to it too.

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The announcement says "riders can rent and park bikes anywhere that complies with Revere’s local laws". I hope there's some indication on the app where these places are, because aside from obvious bad ideas and the very infrequent bike rack, I'm honestly not sure. I'm guessing the chain link fences I often use while picking something up at a convenience store are a no-go.

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There's no need to find a bike rack or chain-link fence. Just park them on the edge of any sidewalk, next to the curb, and not blocking anything obvious like crosswalks or driveways. The bikes are tracked so the system always knows where they are and customers can find them. If someone tries to steal a bike without properly unlocking it, they won't get very far before being caught.

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... that makes me think I'd like to try this service out even though I own a bike already. I've used Hubway type systems in other cities and had trouble docking because stations are full. This seems like a more flexible, customer friendly system.

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I'm unaware of these programs, but my knee-jerk reaction to the mere suggestion of them is going to be more true than the success of programs elsewhere in the world and any research that the people funding this venture have done.

See also "My Neighbor, 1992" who insisted that the bike path in Arlington was going to bring a massive city crimewave to the neighborhood.

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There was an article about this just last week (NYT?), and how they are causing huge problems right now in China. Several bike cos, all competing against each other, and people are leaving them everywhere. Bikes everywhere doesn't sound bad but in practice it doesn't work that way. You need to activate them to use them but anyone do other things with them, like throw them in a nearby river. The article really swung for the fences, describing a free-for-all and pondering the break-down of social order and the lack of consideration for other people.

So of course Revere wants in on all of that.

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A city that's always had its share of, um, personality quirks and problems. Of course natives always try to blame everything on Shirley Ave or the "new people".

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          ( in six months, one of us can say, "I told you so!" )

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I’m one of those natives and as I recall, many of my fellow natives had a somewhat light touch back in the day and they know it. The only new people the natives have a problem with is idiots who make generalizations about them without being one.

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I know it's in Raleigh NC, for example.

I have no idea what they do about the person who rides a bike to a really inconvenient location and leaves it. I mean, the system knows where the bike is, but it's in a place where nobody else wants it.

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I own a bike, but I might just check this out.. I'm curious to see how it works.

Now if only they'd invent a hover-bike so I can fly right over Bell Circle..

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IMAGE(https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/files/2017/09/IMG_6392-e1506054387286.jpg&w=1484)
Dockless bike-share has arrived in D.C. — Bicycles from Mobike, Jump DC, Spin and LimeBike

People thought Hubway bikes would get stolen and vandalized. It's not a big problem for them, so it won't be for these bikes either. The newest bikes have sophisticated technology to thwart theft and vandalism, and with competition among companies vying for the lucrative market, they'll only continue to get better.

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The NYTs one is written about actual events that happened and the unintended consequences.

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destruction has been attributed [to] disgruntled rickshaw and taxi drivers upset that bike-sharing has sapped their business

the debacle has also led many Chinese to look for deeper explanations and ask if bike-sharing has revealed essential flaws in the national character

That story is about a completely different place with a completely different culture with respect to bicycles.

This system doesn't cost the city anything, so why not give it a try? What other solutions do you have for alleviating traffic and helping people get around town? Got anything besides "It'll never work here"?

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I'm not dr no here. Just read that article and wanted to point it out. I hope it all works out well. Besides, what better place than Revere for trying new things before bringing it to civilization? ( I kid! I kid because I love!)

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    IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKu6j5tX0AA8-wq.jpg)
( Mayor Brian Arrigo‏ - Excited to announce the pilot of a new bike sharing program in Revere! )

I like that Mayor Arrigo is spearheading this! As I've said here many times, Revere is a great place to ride a bike!

When you install the iPhone app, it comes with a coupon, presumably good for at least one free ride:
    IMAGE(https://elmercatdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/ofo.png)

With ofo, you pick up a bike, get where you're going, and leave it there. No docking stations, no walking the rest of the way. Because that's what a bike share is supposed to be.

Dockless bike-sharing is working out great in other cities, more flexible and less intrusive than Hubway docking stations. This article in The Washington Post reviews the four competing dockless systems now in service there..

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