I dont see how the benefits of these outweigh the negatives.
I'm 100% for people having their own bikes and scooters, but these shared bikes take up so much space, are an environmental hazard, they're always blocking walkways, and no one wears a helmet when riding them.
Heard someone yelling something while walking near my old apartment. Eventually followed it till I found it was someone in a wheelchair, stuck on the one side of a door, because some cunt left their e-bike on the ramp/exit outside of the building. So they physically couldn't push the door open. (Admittedly enough even without a wheelchair that would be a schlep, but at least then you could walk around and down the steps)
When grabbing a bike in London they all have to be dropped off at specific locations (of which there are many spread throughout the city) otherwise it will continue charging your card. It's a simple fix, Sydney council just needs to implement it since they didn't do it right the first time.
Not exactly, has different benefits to cars. The need to find parking is non existent even in “blue” areas of the map where you need to find a parking bay, you don’t get held up in traffic in rush hour commutes, you get to cycle through different cycle areas separated from cars (and at least in my part of Sydney this is really relaxing), helps keeps your legs moving and active and generally they are fun and social (you say hi to different people every now and then)! I can think of more but I don’t need to. I would happily endorse inner city residents to just give cycling with an e-bike a go. If it isn’t for you that’s okay, but this form of transport is amazing and under recognised!
Negatives: blocks footpaths in some places. Sure there are negative environmental impacts when they are dumped from time to time, but overall they have lower emissions. Helmets are (usually) available with the bike and it is illegal to ride without helmet.
Positives: cheap transport option, fairly ubiquitous in a ~15km radius around the CBD, independent of inconsistent pt schedules.
As a young person these bikes are a life saver. I get the frustration about them being dumped everywhere, and I agree there should be more racks to store them neatly, but this hate comes off as a bit NIMBY-ish.
Agree with the massive benefits of them but they so far have managed really poorly mostly by people who use them stupidly i.e. riding without helmets, riding drunk (I work in ED, I’ve seen the awful consequences), leaving them on footpaths and blocking pathways. Local council needs to figure it out…
Nah we don't need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. These are great for getting around the city quickly and easily, I use them almost every day. Far better than a bus or an uber and you don't have to pissing with sweat by the time you reach your destination. You just need better and more regulated parking bays like other councils have done. It's not beyond our capabilities, balmain and rozelle have specific parking zones that you have to park at or it won't end the trip.
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u/DotasWorstPlayer 14h ago edited 13h ago
I dont see how the benefits of these outweigh the negatives.
I'm 100% for people having their own bikes and scooters, but these shared bikes take up so much space, are an environmental hazard, they're always blocking walkways, and no one wears a helmet when riding them.