The semi-government docked bike rental scheme in my country is free for the first half hour and €0.50 per half hour (or part thereof) after that. (plus €10/year for the account per city, €35/year in Dublin) I don't think I'd use it nearly as much as I would if that wasn't the case.
I would guess it doesn't generate enough revenue to pay for itself overall, but it's incredibly useful for transit around cities.
beAbU · 1h ago
Yes I checked out the citi bikes pricing in Dublin a while back, and it's mad cheap.
If I stayed in Dublin it would have been a total no-brainer to have an account. No need for your own bike, and they are everywhere
Thankfully my town is small enough I can just walk where I need to easily enough.
Veedrac · 1h ago
It's free advice but if you're a part of government and think a service is good and should be encouraged, I recommend not proposing bills whose only contents is making the existing market for that thing illegal.
rafram · 5h ago
I do think Citi Bike should be cheaper (and not run for Lyft’s profit), but some of the arguments here are suspect. For instance:
> Another revenue source? The bill itself. The savings from Mamdani’s free bus pilot led to a 30-40% increase in ridership on those routes. It stands to reason that similar price cuts on Citi Bike would also lead to ridership boosts. Unlike free buses, however, Citi Bike would still get fare revenue with a fare cap.
We’ll lose money on each ride, but we’ll make it up in volume?
I would guess it doesn't generate enough revenue to pay for itself overall, but it's incredibly useful for transit around cities.
If I stayed in Dublin it would have been a total no-brainer to have an account. No need for your own bike, and they are everywhere
Thankfully my town is small enough I can just walk where I need to easily enough.
> Another revenue source? The bill itself. The savings from Mamdani’s free bus pilot led to a 30-40% increase in ridership on those routes. It stands to reason that similar price cuts on Citi Bike would also lead to ridership boosts. Unlike free buses, however, Citi Bike would still get fare revenue with a fare cap.
We’ll lose money on each ride, but we’ll make it up in volume?