Hey, there! Log in / Register

Somebody in East Boston figures out what to do about rogue rental bikes

Rental bike in the water off East Boston

Or maybe LimeBike is offering underwater tours. In any case, Steve Holt noticed one of the rental bikes sleeping with the fishes in the water off the Harborwalk in East Boston near the East Pier development. Unlike Blue Bikes, these green-and-yellow bikes from north of town are "dockless," which means people are supposed to just leave them wherever they want.

Neighborhoods: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

We would be warm below the storm
In our little hideaway beneath the waves
Resting our head on the sea bed
In an octopus' garden near a cave
We would sing and dance around
Because we know we can't be found
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden in the shade

up
Voting closed 0

Steve Holt!!!

up
Voting closed 0

STEVE HOLT!!!

up
Voting closed 0

This shows that yuppys are not wanted in East Boston, someone out there does not like the idea of neighborhood improvements or gentrification or turning Eastie into another Cambridge.

up
Voting closed 0

The bikes aren't from Boston, they're from places like Malden, so it's more likely somebody just get fed up seeing them littering up the street. Or it could just be your run-of-the-mill doofus who saw a bike not locked to anything and felt like practicing his tossing.

up
Voting closed 0

Saw a bunch of the Lime Bikes in Winthrop today (apparently they launched there in June), which should explain why so many are showing up in Eastie.

up
Voting closed 0

About 10 days ago there was a mass deployment in Coolledge Sq on all 4 corners of the intersection of Mt Auburn St and Arlington St. And I did a data project on BlueBikes/Hubway, people do use them as a general conveyance with service peaks in the morning and evening-- the largest traffic coming from and going to South Station, so no, precious Eastie isn't being invaded by "yuppies".

up
Voting closed 0

False. It shows that bikeshares are for yuppies AND guppies! (get it!? because it's in the water?!)

up
Voting closed 0

It doesn't need a dock when it's its own anchor! That's a little boat-bike humor for you.

up
Voting closed 0

Belmont PD had to issue a statement telling residents not to call 911 to report the bikes:
https://twitter.com/BelmontPD/status/1017068624408956928

up
Voting closed 0

I'm sure the poor oil executives and power plant investors are just horrified by them! After all, it isn't enough to use the town power and light company to completely prevent solar panels in the town's boundaries!

They already did enough for the environment when they were finally forced to agree to clean up all the shit they were dumping into Alewife Brook!

up
Voting closed 0

Solar panels are not prohibited in Belmont.

up
Voting closed 0

The town power and light company is municipally owned and has historically delivered a better rate structure in Belmont than national grid / keyspan / NStar / whatever has offered to the surrounding municipalities.

This is the first I've heard of the power company blocking solar in Belmont. Can you give me some more info?

.

up
Voting closed 0

Friend of the Koch Brothers took over the system and went right for their favored "rate plan" bullshit to screw existing users and squelch future ones:

Under Phase 3, Belmont Light would buy all solar power generated by customers at a wholesale rate, and would charge them for all power used — including electricity generated by their own panels — at the retail rate.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2014/08/09/solar-users-...

up
Voting closed 0

I was pretty astounded that they were able to propose that with a straight face; my understanding was that the ridiculous Phase 3 proposal got duly shot down, did it not?

As for buying at wholesale (the "phase 2 proposal", that seems perfectly reasonable. It's unsustainable for the town to be required to buy power I generate at the same price the utility sells it to my neighbors; under that scheme how would they pay for their capital plant or operations.

up
Voting closed 1

which is a proposal that never went anywhere. Belmont's solar metering policy is still very favorable.

up
Voting closed 1

I'll say, in fact they're pier-less!

up
Voting closed 0

Ah, that was way better than mine. Tip of the hat, sir.

up
Voting closed 0

Now the fishes have bicycles.

Thanks Trump!

up
Voting closed 0

Now it's really Slime Lime.

up
Voting closed 0

Nice one, only a matter of time.

“Within a short period of time, it was scanned and ridden away by a local youth,” the post said.

Only to be eaten by a hawk dumped in another body of water moments later

up
Voting closed 0

(n/t)

up
Voting closed 1

Every bike off the road is a victory for pedestrians everywhere.

up
Voting closed 0

(n/t)

up
Voting closed 0

No automobiles on the road, only street cars and pedestrians!

up
Voting closed 1

Bingo!

up
Voting closed 0

(plus some guys who knew a little too much.)

up
Voting closed 0

Every CAR off the road.

Every year in this area, drivers of cars KILL several pedestrians. Meanwhile, you have to look through years and years of data to find any equivalent number of pedestrian deaths from bikes.

Let's stick with facts when planning cities and making statements like yours, toots.

up
Voting closed 0

You mean every BIKE off the road.

Sure, some motorists will kill ya, but that's rare. Most motorists are law-abiding, and some are even courteous.

Whereas all cyclists are self-entitled and self-centered, with no regard for laws or other people. Never been hit by a car; have been hit by a bike.

up
Voting closed 1

n/t

up
Voting closed 1

have been hit by a bike

I got bit by a dog once. I think I'll kill them all.

up
Voting closed 1

If you had been hit by a car, you probably wouldn't be here.

Please cite statistics demonstrating the harms that you claim exist, or stfu.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/02/16/mass-car-crash-deaths-surge...

Also, citations are also needed for your assumptions that "drivers follow laws but cyclists don't", as every actual citation and study that I've seen acknowledges that they offend at equal rates (but one group kills a lot more people).

https://www.outsideonline.com/2273001/cyclists-comply-traffic-laws-more-...

Get cracking!

up
Voting closed 1

1) The person you responded to may or may not be an idiot, but they have certainly offered an idiotic comment.

2) Today I was on foot in the Back Bay. At the corner of Commonwealth, I waited for the pedestrian light to go on so I could cross Mass. Ave. After the pedestrian light came on and I was attempting to cross, no fewer than three cyclists ran through the red light across my path at full speed. Then, once I had managed to make it across the street, I was nearly clobbered by a delivery cyclist riding on the sidewalk.

Four close calls in less than 30 seconds.

Let's stop pretending that just because cars cause more damage than bicycles that means cyclists are saints. Boston streets are a three-way war of carelessness and cluelessness, and I'm sick of people picking teams.

up
Voting closed 0

I'm not convinced the entire concept of these bikes is a workable one. Or a desirable one, for that matter. Using one and then leaving it strewn just anywhere. It seems rather random.

up
Voting closed 0

...until the sidewalk was clogged by dockless here.

[mayor] Is this true?

[venkman] Yes, sir, it’s true. This bike has no dock.

Unrelatedly, I now find myself imagining tiny divers exploring limebikewrecks.

up
Voting closed 0

My husband spotted one during a super low tide in the Gillette end of the channel - the amount of crustacean encrustation indicated that it had been missing for some time.

up
Voting closed 0

Why would someone go that far to be evil? To be so angry at nothing and throw something that is not yours into the water is sick.

up
Voting closed 0

Every time I scroll past this photo it gives me a chuckle! On a side note, the colors and the soft focus make for an oddly beautiful photo.

up
Voting closed 0

why cities who have been innundated overnight by these various dockless vehicles don't drive around impounding them, and then tell the company they have to pay all the fees to get them out.

So the city makes money off the impound fees or the sale of the vehicles at police auction, but they get the stupid dockless vehicles out of the way.

up
Voting closed 0

Give me a break. Bicycles parked on sidewalks, big deal.

up
Voting closed 0