Uber about to deploy new toys
Uber is about to disrupt Bixi with anchorless electric bikes. Hundreds of them are about to show up in our streets, starting with the downtown core. They’ll cost three times as much as a Bixi but hey, they’re electric, and they’re red.
Etienne 09:26 on 2019-06-01 Permalink
From what I read the initial rollout will be quite limited area wise. See this map:
https://goo.gl/maps/Z5LGwKxqkUQjjD3v6
I’m happy to see a newcomer in town pushing micro mobility, but I hope this won’t impact negatively BIXI..
Faiz Imam 09:30 on 2019-06-01 Permalink
This is pretty common in many cities around the world. We’re late to the party.
For the most part these have been less effective than well designed anchored systems, and tend not to be as competitive. They usually find specific niches where they work better, but overall have not been successful. The random nature tends to lead to more abuse and damage, so in the long run it’s difficult for them to manage.
So Im not too worried about bixi.
Ephraim 14:05 on 2019-06-01 Permalink
It’s 30c per minute…. car2go is 35c a minute (and yes, there are fully electric car2go cars as well.) I’m just not sure who’s the market at that price. Seems awfully expensive….
vasi 06:24 on 2019-06-02 Permalink
I’ve used JUMP Bikes in SF, and found them pretty ok! Slightly more expensive than GoBikes (the Bixi equivalent), but the motor helps a lot on hills, which SF has a lot of. Also good when there’s no GoBike station convenient for dropping off a bike. Neither of those situations are super likely in Montreal though.
The big downside is the uncertainty, since the map isn’t super precise. Sometimes you have to walk two blocks past the map marker, poking your head into every sketchy alley, desperately trying to find the bike you paid to reserve.
(The other big downside is them getting bought by Uber, but at least in SF it hasn’t yet caused any decline in quality.)
Raymond Lutz 08:48 on 2019-06-02 Permalink
“Des sanctions seront toutefois imposées aux utilisateurs qui omettront de garer leurs vélos conformément à la réglementation montréalaise” Bin oui… et comment vont-ils confirmer qu’un vélo n’a pas été déplacé par un plaisantin après la fin de la location? hypothèse: ils ont mis un récepteur GPS sur chaque vélo. Surveillance capitalism + the new service prolaterization, what could go wrong?
vasi 10:26 on 2019-06-02 Permalink
Raymond: That’s hardly a hypothesis, JUMP Bikes in other cities have GPS. That’s how you’re able to find one and reserve it in the first place.
Also, these are not loose bikes, they just don’t have dedicated docking stations. You still have to lock them to a post or rack after riding them. (Which conveniently are built and maintained by the city, and JUMP doesn’t have to pay for.)
walkerp 11:37 on 2019-06-02 Permalink
Bixi should make sure to have stations at the top and bottom of every hill. Then people can bixi to the bottom, grab one of these Jump bikes, motorize themselves to the top, get off and then grab a cheaper bixi for the rest of the ride.
CE 13:44 on 2019-06-02 Permalink
I wonder how crowed the sidewalks are going to be when they’re littered with these bikes and Lime scooters (which will be launching very soon according to the person in charge of lobbying the government to allow them who is a friend of a friend). I have a feeling Montrealers aren’t going to be as welcoming to these “disruptors” as they might be in SF or Vancouver.
Ephraim 14:27 on 2019-06-02 Permalink
CE… and since neither is legally allowed to be ridden on a sidewalk…
Raymond Lutz 15:06 on 2019-06-02 Permalink
vasi, ok d’abord… et quid de toutes leurs trottinettes (annoncées) qui traîneront partout? Scooters are littering sidewalks and injuring pedestrians. Can this start-up bring order to the chaos?. Au diable les bourgeois-branchés.