Bikeshare

[Roderick Smith]

10.12.16 The 50 Melbourne Bike Share stations located across the city today returned to full service following urgent maintenance.
RACV is contacting all of its Melbourne Bike Share subscribers directly to inform them that the network has now been restored.
To compensate our annual subscribers we have extended their membership by six months. RACV will also provide free access to all riders who hire a blue bike from 19 to 26 December (normally $3 per day). Standard excess charges will apply when bikes are held for more than 30 minutes by casual riders.
RACV apologises to all users and stakeholders for the inconvenience that the closure of the stations has caused.
How to use Bike Share:
Whether you're an annual subscriber or a casual user, these step by step guides will show you how easy it is to take out your bike.
Courtesy helmets .
The perfect way to explore.
How to use Bike Share .
http://www.melbournebikeshare.com.au.
with Bikeshare stations

[Roderick Smith]

Tues.13.6.17 Metro Twitter:
Yesterday marked 200 years of bikes. Today, our 100th Parkiteer cage was opened, at Ginifer.

This has been one of the few good programs espoused by PTV. It has had mixed reception.
At least one station (Werribee?) has two. I have seen both Werribee and Lilydale full.
I have never seen more than ten at Surrey Hills. Since Melbourne weather is common to all, I attribute that to the hilly surrounds.
There are also tram routes 15 min walk to each side.
The feeder bus is too sparse to be a useful feeder, although private-school kids do use it.
Still bikes will be chained to the fence near the subway entry, because the cage is a long hike from the entry, with no direct access to either platform via the level crossing (something which would be easy to provide, and be an insurance against the frequent flooding of the main subway).

Roderick.

[Roderick Smith]

Roderick

Cycling in Melbourne: Dockless bike sharing system ready to roam.
Herald Sun May 31, 2017.
•Cyclists plan helmet protest ride
•Five of the best bike rides in Melbourne
A NEW dockless bike sharing system — dubbed Uber for bikes — is set to hit Melbourne.
Transport for Victoria, which has been monitoring dockless bike share programs overseas, has met with a number of companies looking to start-up in Melbourne.
In dockless systems, bikes are fitted with GPS technology and customers use a smartphone app to locate, unlock, ride and pay for use of the bike.
Because bikes do not need to be rented or returned to a dock, customers have greater flexibility in the use of the bike and can leave it at their destination.
oBike — which runs a popular scheme in Singapore — recently announced its intentions to launch in Melbourne.
Transport for Victoria has been monitoring dockless bike share programs overseas. Picture: Thinkstock
According to its website, the bikes will be priced at $1.99 for 30 minutes.
Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said Transport for Victoria officials are continuing to meet with interested companies to ensure the best outcomes for Melbourne.
“We support new and innovative businesses choosing Victoria, and we welcome moves to get more people on bikes,” Mr Donnellan said.
“But we’ll be making sure that these companies comply with our laws and community expectations.”
In China, thousands of bikes are parked around the city, including huge piles of bikes in poor working order because nobody takes care of them.
Harold Scruby, chairman of the Pedestrian Council of Australia, raised fears it could lead to similar bike littering in Melbourne.
“Melbourne is already the capital for parking motorbikes on footpaths and bicycles could be next,” he said.
“I’ve seen it in China where these cheap and nasty bikes are left everywhere.
“Councils always put pedestrians last when we make up 92 per cent of CBD road users.”
Cyclists on Footscray Road in the Docklands heading into the city. Picture: Mark Wilson
Councillor Nicolas Frances Gilley, chair of the City of Melbourne’s transport portfolio, said it had a policy of encouraging cycling and supporting bike sharing.
“We are working through the opportunities and implications of the new bike-sharing models emerging in Melbourne,” Councillor Frances Gilley said.
“We will keep working for a city in which both walking and cycling are safe and enjoyable.”
RACV spokeswoman Anastasia Karalis, which has been operating the Melbourne Bike Share scheme on behalf of PTV since 2010, said in the past four months it has averaged around 19,000 rides per month.
“Melbourne Bike Share is an easy and inexpensive way to move around central Melbourne and is regularly used by tourists visiting the city and commuters getting to and from work,” she said.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/…/new…/6a3c1c22d189dc79260ea3481be6637c
* The Harold Scruby reference again? The Pedestrian Council of Australia?
A quick google search tells me that Harold Scruby was once convicted of hitting a jogger with his car. Perhaps he's not the best advocate for pedestrians.
* Bike share programs around the world have exploded in recent years. Practically every other country has realised that bicycles are a cheap, convenient, and practical alternative to single-occupant vehicles for short trips. Even New York City has an incredibly popular scheme, with millions of bike hires logged.
What's different in Australia? Mandatory Helmet Laws. Shame really.
* Bike share must happen on a weekend because working in the CBD Mon to Fri, I'd be lucky to see one or two riders per week.
* Can't be bothered looking up the numbers at the moment, but a few years ago cyclists accounted for upwards of 11% of all trips into the CBD during morning peak hour.

June 15 2017 When it comes to shared cycling, yellow is the new blue .
You may have already seen them on your way to work.
Shiny yellow bicycles scattered around the city with inviting signs that read "Please ride me away" and not a chain in sight.
Ranks of the orange bikes have been seen on Melbourne streets. Photo: Wayne Taylor .
But far from being a random act of charity, these humble pushies are part of a hi-tech new bike-sharing platform.
Singaporean company oBike has released several hundred of them onto city streets as a direct competitor to Melbourne's RACV blue bikes.
Thousands of oBikes sit in an empty lot in Nunawading. Photo: Jason South .
Believed to be the first business of its kind in Australia, oBike's launch has posed a fresh set of problems for local councils about how to police them and regulate quality.
As a dockless bike sharing system, oBike differs radically from the existing Melbourne Bike Share system.
The bikes are left in public parking areas and are unlocked remotely via a mobile phone app.
This means users can pick up and drop off a bike anywhere they like, as opposed to returning it to a designated docking station.
The instructions seem simple. Photo: Eddie Jim .
The cost is $1.99 per 30 minutes with initial plans to cover the CBD, Brunswick, South Yarra, Fitzroy, St Kilda, and Carlton. Helmets are included.
The company launched 12 months ago and boasts 60,000 daily trips in Singapore. There were 170,000 trips taken on RACV bikes between July 2015 and June 2016.
Melbourne Bike Share bikes lined up outside Southern Cross station in 2010. Photo: MAL FAIRCLOUGH .
But can oBike's success overseas be translated here?
Councillor Nicolas Frances Gilley, who chairs the transport portfolio for Melbourne City Council, said the council's goal is a city focused on walking and cycling.
oBike began in Sinapore in 2016 and are launching in Melbourne. Photo: Jason South .
Mr Gilley acknowledged the city had "radically changed" since the council wrote their transport strategy four years ago.
"Bike sharing had its place but we have spent the past four years going 'we know this place doesn't work'."
oBike is launching in Melbourne. Photo: Supplied .
"We know how people want to use bicycles now. We want people to be able to have cheap bikes, put them everywhere and have people able to use them."
But Mr Gilley defended Melbourne Bike Share against criticism, saying it had worked hard to adapt to its biggest drawbacks including helmet rental.
The publicly funded scheme is run by the state government. In the April State Budget, the Andrews government committed $4.9 million to continue the initiative.
An RACV spokeswoman said they operated the system on behalf of Public Transport Victoria and called it an "easy and inexpensive way to get around central Melbourne".
"[It] is sustainable, integrated into Melbourne's transport network, and part of Melbourne's culture with the iconic blue bikes."
Technology investor Richard Celm, a program director at startup accelerator Startupbootcamp, said the city needed to invest in new technology to maintain its place as one of the world's most liveable cities.
"Giving people the option of jumping on a bike for short trips around the city has a number of significant benefits," he said.
"It reduces vehicles on the road which improves air quality, reduces congestion, and means there is less need for roadside parking which gives a huge amount of lost space back to the city and its people."
Mr Celm said a failure to implement the right technology would see Melbourne's infrastructure fail to keep up with the demands of a growing population.
oBike will run on a self-regulating system where users report faulty or broken bikes in return for credit on their account.
Users who do the wrong thing such as locking the bike inside their house will have their account penalised.
Several hundred bikes were released into the CBD on Thursday as a pilot test, with a full launch to follow in coming months.
For more information, visit the oBike Australia website here.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/are-y ... wmz3u.html

170624Sa-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-oBike-b-s.jpg

[Roderick Smith]

oBike has had a very mixed reception. Cycling devotes see the scheme as vital for a carless Melbourne. They love the term 'active transport' to latch bikes onto pedestrian and public transport. The wider community hates the usurping of public space for bike parking, and has taken to dumping bikes in bizarre places.
Roderick.

Moonee Valley Council impounding and crushing oBikes after fruitless negotiations with bike share company.
Moonee Valley Leader January 17, 2018.
ABANDONED oBikes in Moonee Valley streets and waterways have been crushed by Moonee Valley Council.
Another 20 bikes are now sitting in impound awaiting the same fate unless bike share company oBike pays the impound fee.
Moonee Valley Council announced in October last year it would crack down on bikes found obstructing paths and roadways, and would charge the Singapore-based bike share company $50 to retrieve the bikes from Moonee Valley streets.
Moonee Valley Mayor John Sipek said he was frustrated the council and bike share company had failed to come to a resolution on the issue.
“Council is still in discussions with oBike around negotiating a memorandum of understanding,” Cr Sipek said.
“Council has crushed and recycled a number of oBikes.
“We currently have around 20 bikes that have been impounded and oBike is yet to pay the impound fee.”
Last week three oBikes were spotted in Moonee Ponds Creek.
www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north-west/ ... 13dec960fa
* Perhaps the locals dumping these bikes should take some of the responsibility, it is the councils own rate payers doing the wrong thing in the first place that created this mess.
* There has been a concerted campaign against this business, particularly by NewsLimited press, and reactionary-radio 3AW, effectively encouraging people to vandalize these bikes.

[Heihachi_73]

The only oBikes I ever see in the city these days are all broken. Either the wheels are bent, the spokes bent or broken from being forced with the lock engaged, loose handlebars, missing seats or the chain has fallen off. I have even seen one where the locking mechanism (including the rear reflector) was completely missing. Looks like the blue Melbourne bikes are the winner by far.

That said, the oBikes, sans gears, were mostly pointless in such a hilly city. Unless you're a Tour de France veteran or a gym instructor you're more likely going to be pushing the bike all over Melbourne than riding it.

[Roderick Smith]

Roderick.

oBike Australia wants Moonee Valley Council public land to set up docking stations.
Moonee Valley Leader January 25, 2018.
AN agreement between oBike and Moonee Valley Council is yet to be signed after the bike-share company requested the council surrender carparking spaces for free to make room for designated bike-docking stations.
The council has impounded several oBikes in recent months, with a number of them being dumped in creeks and rivers, and Lim Chee Ping, the head of oBike Australia, said his company was keen to stop this.
But he said talks with the council about signing a Memorandum of Understanding had broken down.
He said the council had not agreed to several conditions.
“These included providing clear and specific guidelines to us before impounding our bikes, as well as the provision of designated parking spaces in Moonee Valley,” he said.
oBike is a dockless system, with users required to leave bikes in a safe public space, but it appears this is the first time the company has asked for public land to set up docking stations.
How to use oBike
Moonee Valley Mayor John Sipek said oBike’s claims the council did not agree to provide guidelines before impounding bikes was incorrect.
“Council did agree to provide specific guidelines. However, we did not agree to provide designated exclusive oBike parking spaces, which would have seen the loss of public car parking spaces,” Cr Sipek said.
“We make no apologies for the fact that council is not prepared to provide public land for the exclusive use of oBike.”
An agreement between oBike and Melbourne City, Yarra and Port Phillip councils states that oBikes must not obstruct footpath access and must be parked upright at all times.
It also stipulates the three councils can determine if share bikes are in appropriate locations, and take required action if needed.
RELATED: City councils gang up on oBikes.
RELATED: How bikes up trees became a problem.
www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north-west/ ... 0b0f96d990

[neilrex]

The terms and conditions of obike penalize users for parking at "non designated bike parking areas". Yet the meaning of that is entirely unclear. How many "designated bike parking areas, are there".

The whole point of dockless bike share schemes, is that you can leave the bike at any safe, non-obstructive, place, where a reasonable person would do so.

Furthermore, if you are riding YOUR OWN bike around the place, then in general you can park it and lock it at any safe, non-obstructive place where a reasonable person would park a bike, unless there is some specific place where bikes are required to be parked, which in general there is not. Or unless there is some specific sign or rule banning bike parking at that particular spot or area.

I would certainly not be giving obike my credit-card number until the meaning of that term or condition of their contract is clarified.

[1whoknows]

I thought the only o-bike parking area was in the Yarra?

Surely the sooner we rid the streets of these pestilential machines and their holier than though users the better. Less delays and more patronage for public transport.