Jump bike users aren’t wearing helmets
As my bit of original reportage showed, users of the new Jump bikes are mostly not wearing helmets because who carries around a bike helmet on the off chance they might need one?
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Kate
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Michael Black 08:17 on 2019-06-30 Permalink
I did know someone who carried a helmet around, hanging off her knapsack. Her bike had been stolen, so she had the helmet, but was using Bixi.
But not common, and even less among people going for joyrides on Bixi or the like.
Michael
dwgs 08:31 on 2019-06-30 Permalink
It seems to me that I see more helmeted Bixi riders the last couple of years.
qatzelok 09:09 on 2019-06-30 Permalink
Electric bikes allow humans to go very fast with very little effort. In other words, they are getting closer to being automobiles and motorcycles. Is this really a postive evolution?
I think these vehicles should be exclusively aimed at seniors and people with physical limitations, who would not otherwise be able to get to 20 kph on their own steam.
For everyone else, e-bikes and other prosthetics (including cars) are a form of abuse of resources and public space.
Blork 13:03 on 2019-06-30 Permalink
Bixi has the advantage of using stations, and you can predict ahead of time if you’ll be able to get a Bixi, so people use them for commuting because it’s pretty reliable. Jump bikes are stationless, so there is no predictability. Few people will walk around with a bike helmet hoping to find a Jump to ride to work each day; anyone who wants to use bike sharing to commute is already using Bixi.
The need for a helmet really puts the brakes on Jump, so I’m surprised they are trying it here. Bixi would probably be dead if helmets were required on them. I predict that in five years time most of these commercial, un-stationed bike sharing things will be gone, but Bixi will survive.
To recap: because Bixi uses stations, it is good for predictable and repeatable rides. It’s also good for random one-off rides. But Jump and other stationless bikes are NOT good for repeatable rides, such as commuting, and since a helmet is required they are also NOT good for random one-off rides.
DeWolf 19:18 on 2019-06-30 Permalink
I’ve already seen half a dozen people riding Jump bikes in the past day. Given how expensive it is, and the risk of getting a ticket for not wearing a helmet (and none of the riders had a helmet), I’m surprised to have seen so many.
Maybe it’s the novelty factor. Or maybe (and this is wildly optimistic) some people open their Uber app looking for a car, see a bike is nearby and decide to take that instead. In which case that wouldn’t be so bad.
CE 21:39 on 2019-06-30 Permalink
My girlfriend has the Uber app and they sent her a message saying she could try the Jump bikes for free so that might explain why so many people are using them right now.
Kate 22:14 on 2019-06-30 Permalink
I didn’t get a picture but a Jump bike was on my block today and was attached to some random sign pole. The theory is they can only be attached to bike racks, but is that going to be respected any more than the helmet rule? Don’t forget, Uber does its thing by disrupting rules.
steph 23:17 on 2019-06-30 Permalink
I saw a picture on Instagram of a Jump bike locked to a BIXI bike dock. Yes it was locked in such a way to prevent proper use of the dock. This is going to be a disaster.
mare 23:33 on 2019-06-30 Permalink
Prediction 1: Soon you can use the Uber app to order a helmet and then an Uber drivers will deliver it to your location. They’ll call it UberHeads. The Uber car will follow you and when you are done using the Jump bike it will collect the helmet from you. Uber doesn’t care it’ll make a loss on every bike ride, they do that on every car ride already.
Prediction 2: activists will lock all Jump bikes to a stationary object with a second lock and throw away the key.
Uatu 09:25 on 2019-07-01 Permalink
Yeah. I can see activists doing that. Very ironic, disrupting the disruptor….
Ian 14:52 on 2019-07-01 Permalink
Cheaper just to epoxy the locks
Kate 19:58 on 2019-07-01 Permalink
So Ian, do you teach Practical Anarchism 101 out at that lefty college of yours?
Ian 21:16 on 2019-07-01 Permalink
Well not quite so explicitly, no 😉