I still think there's a lot of room for improvement in modern bikeshare paradigms. The most common time I tell myself 'man, I wish I had a bike' is when I want to get to a convenience store/lunch spot one-three miles away, where walking isn't really feasible but driving seems exorbitant.
I wish there was a system where I could pay fifty cents at a bike station and get the use of a bike for an hour, or something similar. That's my ideal system.
I absolutely love these - they are just "there" without ever having to invest any time or money in maintenance. Almost the perfect no-brainer transportation alternative.
There is a system like that in Tel Aviv. Interestingly, the #1 criticism of it is that the system doesn't recognize correctly if there are or aren't available bikes at the station. A software/hardware bug.
The original system like this started in Copenhagen, and doesn't cost anything - when you return the bike to the special rack, you get your 20Kr piece back.
Lots of other cities around the world have bike sharing programs now. The more fancy ones have a smartcard system that you charge up and it deducts money for usage.
I still think there's a lot of room for improvement in modern bikeshare paradigms. The most common time I tell myself 'man, I wish I had a bike' is when I want to get to a convenience store/lunch spot one-three miles away, where walking isn't really feasible but driving seems exorbitant.
I wish there was a system where I could pay fifty cents at a bike station and get the use of a bike for an hour, or something similar. That's my ideal system.