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Blue Bikes start rolling out
By adamg on Wed, 05/09/2018 - 11:13am
Blue Bikes, the renamed Hubway, began unleashing its new blue bikes today, as Stephen M discovered on Main Street in Kendall Square. The renaming comes via an infusion of cash from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Also in the works: More bikes and bike-rental stations.
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Comments
Poor job dealing with downtown
At 6:30 sometimes all stations have no bikes. Then South Station has not docks. The reverse is true for the morning. Expanding the system when they can not maintain the current system is worthwhile as it gets more cars off the street. But they need to focus on doing a better job of rebalancing the stations. The company managing this job does a poor job.
Try London
They have thousands of the same bikes but the problem is even worse. By mid-morning there are no bikes in the residential areas and no open docks downtown. By mid-evening the opposite is true.
This is the problem dockless bikes are suppose to solve.
There's no magic in dockless bikes
Getting rid of the docks won't magically transport bikes to where they're needed. There are no open docks downtown for the same reason there are (almost) no parking spaces downtown after a certain hour of the morning. And dockless bikes have ended up cluttering sidewalks in many areas with them because the lack of docks removes the enforcement measure of putting bikes away in reasonable locations.
Point System
I'm told that other systems give out points (for what?) so that people take bikes from full stations to empty stations. Might be worth a try here. They do re-balance stations here frequently and I see the trucks everywhere, but it's hard to keep up I guess. If they move too many bikes, then when work gets out there will not be enough at those stations. It's a delicate balance.
Sounds like a good argument for bike corals
Dedicate a parking spot on city blocks for bike parking just like we've done for car parking. Then we can just have the dockless bikes cluttering up the roadsides like cars, which seems to be ok and certainly has the enforcement measure of making sure cars are put away in reasonable locations.
Maybe not every city block of course but coupled with the data these bike companies have and the volume of people frequently using said bikes might help meet location demands in a smart way.
Then what happens when the
Then what happens when the corral is full?
With docked systems
You at least have the bikes go to a central location (or group thereof) to transport them back. Going around to find randomly-placed dockless bikes is not scalable.
Buy your own bike -- check
Buy your own bike -- check used deals on craigslist.
The company has people doing this
The problem is getting them properly distributed in a timely manner. What's the sense of getting more bikes to North Station in the morning when come PM rush there'd be no place to dock them, which would be the bigger issue.
Make reverse rides FREE
Tune the app to notify interested riders that travel from a dense area to an empty area is without charge for a certain period. Automagical rebalancing.
Charge if someone tries to take advantage but with a reasonable transit period it'd be effective, cost saving and good neighborly.
Theyre adding stations
Theyre adding stations downtown
I'd say it's 90% OK
In certain spots they do run out of bikes or get filled-up. However, across most of the system, I generally find that there are bikes where I need them and spaces where I am going. Could it be better? Of course. However, overall I would say that they are running a good system that is efficient and mostly reliable.
I agree! I have been using
I agree! I have been using the system since it started and maybe a couple times over there years has there really been an issue of no bike or no open dock. That said i use the ones at N/S station off hours, and wouldn't try to during rush hour! (they often have ambassadors receiving/stocking them live during rush hour)
not blue bikes: Blue Cross Blue Shield corproate sponsored bikes
Such a bummer! Cyclists having to pay to pedal around medical insurance advertisements... what a tacky scam. Hubway is such a disappointment.
The grey ones were New
The grey ones were New Balance ads "New Balance Hubway". Blue Cross is being less subtle in their sponsorship.
Only in Boston
Cambridge/Somerville bikes are city-sponsored so there's only the city's logo.
Of course they move around a lot so you'll see them outside their home area.