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Bluebikes go underground
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What did one sad blue bike say to the otherwhenstuck underground
I'm blue da ba dee da ba daa
Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa
Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa
I'm blue da ba dee da ba daa
Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa
Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa
OK, I'm not sure what you're point is
But I think you've made it. Might be time to try saying something else.
The Zen of Trolling
The real purpose of trolling is to get a response, a reaction, any reaction at all. Anger is the easiest emotion to excite, so that's the one trolls generally go for, but anything will do. Apparently the Cod is attempting to capture the true essence of trolling, to elicit a response without saying anything at all.
Perhaps an ignore
or block feature is needed in a future iteration of the site.
All the negativity makes me
blue da ba dee da ba daa
Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa
Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa
I'm blue da ba dee da ba daa
Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa
Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa
Got Eiffel 65 reference
But only this one time, OK? Once is funny.
The 90s called
Apparently this "da de da" business is a reference to some obscure song from he 90s that was before my time. They didn't write very good lyrics back then.
Man, that commercial was hilarious
The first 50,000 times you saw it, but now? People bought those cars?
No worse that Honda's current
"Tips for life around New England" ad campaign. They're both moronic and childish.
Still way better than the Venza ads
The ones where the people in the Subaru at the trailhead were cruncy hippies, but dressed appropriately for their activity (and the Venza owners were wearing aerobics/yoga clothes to mountainbike ...)
Better music with the same theme
I’m seeing a lot of stray Blue Bikes recently
My theory is that there are members who don’t quite get how the thing is supposed to work, even though both bikes and stations spell out what to do.
I wonder if the opposite of that is also happening
That is, someone trying to dock one of the dockless bikes (or scooter) in the Bluebike docks.
Yep, that's happened
I've seen a couple of photos of dockless bikes in docks.
So then... the person who
So then... the person who last rented the blue bike yet failed to return it to a docking station is still paying for that time? I suppose if money is no object it's easier to be lazy and just dump the bikes wherever you please.
I've seen a number of people riding blue bikes through tunnels recently. Not sure if it's legal, but it is dangerous. As others do, I assume it's tourists and not natives who are riding recklessly. Might be a good idea if blue bike let renters know some basic rules of the road and bike safety tips... after all a major medical health insurance is sponsoring these rental bikes. Just saying.
Here's the bad part of my theory
And trust me, I know how bad this is going to read.
Blue Bikes has an Income-Eligible Program, which I do think is a really good thing, but conversely, reaching out to people without credit or for whatever reason do not have credit cards brings as a side effect the possibility that people will just grab the bikes and leave them, well, you see a photo of this here. The first time I saw this I was going into the Boloco in Copley Square. There was one where their outdoor seating is. After eating my burrito, I left and saw the bike still there, with something in the storage area in the front and a guy sitting nearby (ie. in the Boloco outdoor seating area.) Here's what you need to understand about this geography. There is a docking station 10 feet from where the bike was.
I'm not tarring the whole program, but certainly there are some people who might not grasp the concepts of returning the bike while you are not using it so others can use them.
Also an electronic program
If you are income eligible, you get a "key" that unlocks the bikes.
Abuse the system and they shut off your key, regardless.
Well, that's good
So if it is why my theory is in some of the cases, it all catches up to them.
Still get charged for time
It's not clear how the billing works (invoices? charge to debit card?), but there is a penalty for not returning the bike to a dock, even in the income-eligible program:
"Lock your bike at any station when you’re done. The first 60 minutes of each ride are included in your membership price: after 60 minutes, there is an additional $2 fee for each 30 minutes the bike is out. If you keep a bike out for longer than 60 minutes at a time, you'll be charged usage fees. A ride begins when a bike is unlocked and ends when the bike is securely returned to a dock at any Blue Bikes station."
Probably tourists
Likely it was tourists who don't know or don't care that this isn't the smartest place to leave these bikes as they go on their way treating the city like their private playground.
Homeless
I see them rip these things right out of the docking unit daily by south station.
Really?
Well, if that is true, than the bikes are not secured well by the previous user in the docking station.
If they are secured, the homeless you mention must be pretty darn strong.
Dockless biking is the future
Dockless biking is the future like that or not, brahs
The Heat Death of the Universe
is also the future. What's so special about the future? Shit is shit, in the future or in the past.
The Future
The future isn't what it used to be.
The BlueBikes Effect!
How they got thete?
Rolled downstairs, ideally ridden down the up escalator, or brought into the elevator(s) 'cause you can pee in the corner on the ascent or descent.
BIRDS
SHOULD BE AS
FREE
AS ME
THE BLUEBIKES EFFECT
Blue going dockless!
Orange line makes sense.
Many of these bikes also end up on the Methadone Mile. Some members don't always securely dock bikes when returning and others take them out for free use.
I returned a couple of stolen
I returned a couple of stolen/abandoned Blue bikes found within a couple of block from my house last month. They are also a common sight along the methadone mile. I called customer service to find out how those ended up on my street (un-returned, stolen from the dock?) -The response was very corporate as in "We can't tell you anything; we only discuss these maters with the police". The docking system looks hard to break and the penalty for not returning ($1200 charge on a credit card) is steep.
https://help.bluebikes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115006044788-Unknown-charges
Does anyone know how these Blue bikes end up on the loose?
Bad docking
I've found bikes not fully inserted into the dock. You really got to slam the bike in and not everyone is aware.
For someone out of town they might be confused at the system and not realize they need to return the bike to a dock.
So, if somebody doesn't return the bike to a docking station
or doesn't fully dock the bike, does that mean that person is still billed for subsequent use?
Yes
According to their terms. I wouldn't be surprised if they waive the fees if it's the first time and the person protests.
But yes, you're on the clock until you return the bike correctly. It would be like leaving a rental car on the street and not actually driving it back onto the lot of the agency.
Fees waved
Years ago, perhaps before people caught on to how often it occurs, I put a hubway in a dock that wasn't locking. Called and eventually got the fee waved. Now I pull on the bike to verify it is locked in.
Abandoned Ofo bike
There's a seemingly abandoned Ofo yellow bike parked in the Boston Public Library's rack on Exeter Street. Last week it was chained to the rack. This week the chain is gone, but the bike is still there. I'm wondering how it got to Copley Square, since the closest cities with Ofo service had been Revere and Quincy.
Ofo exited the entire Massachusetts market last week, seemingly orphaning this bike.