Melbourne has one, why don’t we?
September 22, 2010 at 3:02 am 2 comments
Stumbling back to my hotel after a function last week I noticed that Melbourne is now the first Australian city to implement Europe’s auto-pay, bike-share scheme.
Melbourne Bike Share by moonlight
A row of shiny (possibly too shiny, thus unused) blue steeds challenged my spontaneous desire to deposit some coin and go for a spin around the block at 11pm…
It’s obvious that Melbourne is far more cycle friendly than Sydney so I’m not surprised – but I am annoyed.
It’s the century-old Sydney vs. Melbourne competition. I want MY city to have this to!
A friend of mine who works in a position to promote cycling in Sydney says the Melbourne scheme is a bit of a flop thus far.
One simple reason (maybe): who on earth is going to lug a bike helmet around all day because they might hop on and off a bike for an hour or two? (Especially when there is a tram station next to the bike station).
Does a helmet fit in my handbag? No. In my laptop bag? No. Does it look stylish or chic and complement my outfit / suit when I show up at a meeting? No. Do I want to leave the house carrying more crap than I actually need in the morning…? Maybe you do.
The company that set it up in June 2010 – Melbourne Bike Share; says there will be 50 bike stations and 600 bikes situated around the Melbourne CBD when the full plan is unrolled.
Maybe the costs will convince people to come over – daily subscription ($2.50 per day) or a weekly subscription ($8.00 per week). Now that is cheap.
And I won’t have to pump up or change my own bloody tyres, or oil the chain thingamy either.
Still, I can’t help but concede that I’m very attached to MY bike, not just any bike. It’s a statement about me.
Not my bike - but very pretty!
The Age reported on the bike-share in March 2009 and said that
“Almost one in five bicycles would be stolen or vandalised under a $5 million State Government public bike scheme for the city centre, documents obtained under freedom-of-information laws say”.
Well, this bike rack looked full – in spite of a number of pissy punters wandering around on a Thursday night, so I’m not sure those fears were actually realised.
Interesting that in Paris “more than half of the bikes in the Parisian scheme were either stolen or badly damaged in the first year”. Whoopsy…
I’d love to hear from Melbournites about what they think of it.
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: bike hire, cycling, Melbourne, Melbourne Bike Share, Sydney Cyclist.
1.
Neil A | September 22, 2010 at 5:35 am
Hi Tash.
See: http://www.sydneycyclist.com/forum/topics/why-brisbane-why?commentId=1321712%3AComment%3A194389
2.
Kat | September 23, 2010 at 5:51 am
I have just started using it as an annual subscriber. There is a rack not too far from my apartment and some at my uni so I have been riding to and from. I usually walk and it has cut my time in half. The helmet thing is OK as I am usually planning ahead to ride, plus mine is light and smallish and does fit in my bag. I can see why it is an issue though, especially for tourists. The other problem is the silly fee for daily subscribers, they have to deposit $350, which they don’t get back till the next day! I simply don’t have that space in my account. most other schemes seem to just have a late return penalty, which only gets taken out if the bike isn’t returned, which makes more sense. I think this cost would also be off putting to casual users as much as helmets.
That said I am liking the convenience so far. Would love some more bike stations around the inner suburbs though.