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| Author |
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chi1taxi
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Community Bicycles
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Apr 27 01:05 UTC 1995 |
This may sound off the wall in this day and age of mistrust/ires
irresponsibility, but I'd like to throw out the idea of trying to restart the
"Blue Bicycle" program that was around in AA in the early 70's, I think,
where people donated, bought at police bike sales, etc., community bicycles
which were all painted blue, and used as needed and left for the next user.
I may have the color, or the name of the program wrong, but the value of
the program stands on its own. Are the times too cynical and selfish here
in the 90's for this to be given a try again?
Brother Bill-
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| 122 responses total. |
chi1taxi
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response 1 of 122:
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Apr 27 03:22 UTC 1995 |
I might add that this would be a good time to try it, with the school year
ending ending and many may be willing to donate old rust-buckets rather than
carting them home, them home, especially graduating seniors. Brother Bill-
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peacefrg
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response 2 of 122:
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Apr 27 09:49 UTC 1995 |
Bill, I think that is a great idea. I, for one, would definitely
participate. But, I am wondering how long it would last before all of
them are stolen or ruined beyond the point of use. It seems that the
majority of people nowadays don't respect other people property like]
they should. In Michigan where I live, one of the biggest tourisy
whoops, tourist attractions in the state it Mackinak Island (spelling?).
On the island, cars are prohibited. So the only thing for transportation
are Bicycles and Horse and buggy. So, there are many public Bike
renyals on the Island. For an overly prices fee and signing an agreement
with your balls attached, you can use one of these bikes for the day.
However, even in those cases, the bikes are very often misused.
You find them laying in ditches, beaches, etc...where people lay
them while they take pictures of the fat wife in her new G-string.
(nope, absolutely no childhood resentment of our states tourist trap)
But, my point was (and I do have one here, somewhere) is that
people couldn't handle a community program where trust is involved.
Jowever, I'm sure it would work great in a small town. Out town could
probably handle something like that. But where cities are concerned,
I don't think it would work.
Whoa, there are a lot of typos in that response. Sorry guys, I'm trying.
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tsty
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response 3 of 122:
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Apr 27 17:34 UTC 1995 |
Heh - the first thing my brother did, last summer, when he arrived
was to "donate" a bicycle "to the masses." Not that this outcome
was his intended goal, understand, but that's how it worked out. Oh,
you +could+ call the event ..... stolen bike.
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peacefrg
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response 4 of 122:
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Apr 27 18:55 UTC 1995 |
Now that I read my response again, it does seem quite pessimitic. I didn't
mean for it to come off like that. I do like the idea, I think it would
go far if introduced into the right enviroment and at the right time.
I would love it if the world would actually become more of a neighborhood
than a world divided in so many categories as it is now. So, don't think
that I was flaming the item with that response.
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chi1taxi
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response 5 of 122:
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Apr 27 20:48 UTC 1995 |
From what I understand, it worked for a while when it was done in AA 20+ yeaars
ago, but the culture was much more conducive then. Eventually the frat boys
trashed/stole them, from what I hear.
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birdlady
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response 6 of 122:
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Apr 27 21:33 UTC 1995 |
<laughing out loud at James' reaction to Mackinac Island> I feel the same
way about it, James. =)
I think that the bicycles are a wonderful idea, provided that they aren't
mistreated. I knoow quite a few people who would be more than happy to be
able to "borrow" a bike for a while just to do some errands or ride around.
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scg
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response 7 of 122:
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Apr 27 23:24 UTC 1995 |
(I don't think much of Macinac Island either, although my only really bad
experience there was dealing with the employees of the Grand Hotel)
I've heard of several places where programs like this were tried
several years ago. The result is generally the same: the program is very
successful for a while, adn then the bikes gradually start to diapperar as
people keep them. For the program to work for a longer time, there would
have to be a way to replace the bikes that were stolen.
There is another problem that might keep this sort of thing from
working these days: liability. In this day when bike manufacturers are
being sued about just about anything imaginable, I would hate to see the
lawsuits that would go against any group putting out bikes for public use
like this. People could sue saying that they hadn't been given proper
instruction on use of the bikes before having an accident with tehm, or
could claim that their accidents were the result of faulty maintenance.
Also, there would be no way ti insure that all the users of the bikes
would wear helmets while using them, but it could be argued that such a
group would be negligent for providing the bikes without making sure
everybody who used them wore a helmet. The risks are great enough taht I
wouldn't want to get involved in such a thing.
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rogue
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response 8 of 122:
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Apr 28 05:45 UTC 1995 |
Steve brings up some very real legal problems.
This reminds me of a teacher I had a high school -- probably the teacher I
respect the most. He had a biology trip to Jamaica every year for high
school students. The trip was expensive. He very bluntly told the students
that no fund raisers were going to be held because students could earn much
more money (per hour) if they just worked at a part-time job after school.
Instead of paying (money and/or time) for community bikes which will be
abused more, everyone should just buy their own bike. Also, what if I don't
want to ride the same shit bike everyone else rides? What happens when these
bikes are stolen? Too many problems.
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chi1taxi
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response 9 of 122:
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Apr 28 06:22 UTC 1995 |
Rogue, no one is even asking you to ride one of these shit bikes- we're not
talking about BMWs, so I know you wouldn't want to touch them.
I don't think the legal problems are so
great, for one thing, suers go after deep pockets, two, it's basically an
anarchist idea, this was started on hippie conference. It really doesn't
need a Sponsoring Organization. Do it!
Chicago Taxi Willie-
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steve
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response 10 of 122:
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Apr 28 13:40 UTC 1995 |
Jemmie, its not that the bikes are good, but that they are
conveinent to use; go from point A to B, and then you don't have
to worry about locking it up.
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ajax
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response 11 of 122:
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Apr 28 19:27 UTC 1995 |
I think it's a cool idea! Certainly bikes disappear over time, but
they're cool while they last. I caught the tail end of (one of?) AA's
public bike program(s) in the mid-80's when I moved here; it worked
better than I'd have figured. I think they were green bikes, and
volunteers got together periodically to maintain them.
The story I heard was that they disappeared mainly to out-of-town
bike thieves. I'm sure they disappeared many ways, but I doubt "frat
boys trashed/stole them" was a frequent ending, as I don't remember
seeing trashed green bikes, and local thieves would have to repaint
them due to their distinctive coloring. If I were going to try this
again, I think I'd make them even more distinctive - weld some unusual
parts to them or something.
There were plenty of bike thieves in the seventies. I grew up in a
quiet suburb near a university, and occasionally vans would come by
and load up any unlocked bikes in the neighborhood. The main
perpetrators would probably be poor people with transport, which is
probably a larger population than in the 70s, and bike dealerships,
who don't want the "competition," and have a direct path to sell
the bikes.
I used to think a public bike program would work well on an island,
but the mackinac tales above have despelled me of that belief!
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chi1taxi
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response 12 of 122:
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Apr 28 20:56 UTC 1995 |
So if you're rummaging around at a garage sale and see an old beater for
$10., pick it up, or post it here for someone w. $10. to scoop up.
I was sort of thinking of painting them the Oklahoma State Colors, as sort
of a healing America thing, but that might just polarize. What think- folks?
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chi1taxi
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response 13 of 122:
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Apr 28 21:04 UTC 1995 |
Oh, also, I don't know if I have posting priviledges on M-Net yet. Could
someone post something there?
Any ideas about how to get appeals for bikes to students, especially seniors,
who are about to leave for the summer/ever?
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peacefrg
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response 14 of 122:
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Apr 29 05:53 UTC 1995 |
That's a good idea Bill, Paint them Bright Orange so everybody knows it's a
communal bike. Or, put an alarm on it so that if a code isn't punched every
evening it's set off. But, then you have more expense than people would want
to deal with. They could be numbered largely so that if one was stolen the
police could find it. Or liscence plates. If car rentals work why not bikes.
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nephi
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response 15 of 122:
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Apr 29 05:56 UTC 1995 |
(Anyone can post in the conferences on M-net, Bill.)
I would like the idea, too. It would have to be very universal, and
done by a non-sueable entity.
The good thing about a program like this is that there only has to be
about 1 bike for every 25 or so people. Most of the time, a bike owned
by an individual just sits.
It's a real shame that we can't do something like this without worring
about theft and getting sued.
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nephi
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response 16 of 122:
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Apr 29 05:58 UTC 1995 |
(Response 14 sliped in.)
That would be fine James, but bikes can be very easily repainted.
They would have to have a distinct shape (or something permanent)
to avoid serious problems with theft.
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peacefrg
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response 17 of 122:
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Apr 29 06:31 UTC 1995 |
True, but you also have chop shops that do that to cars.
The idea is to deter, not stop. If somebody wants a bike, they will get one
nomatter what you do.
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nephi
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response 18 of 122:
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Apr 29 06:34 UTC 1995 |
I agree. I just don't think that having to repaint a bike is enough
of a deterrent.
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peacefrg
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response 19 of 122:
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Apr 29 14:41 UTC 1995 |
That's true. Um, you could have to show proof of legit ID before borrowing
them. That way they could come after you if it wasn't brought back.
And showing somebody a drivers liscence and signing a form saying that
it is real and you will return it isn't that big of a deal to borrow a bike
for free. When they were doing it in Ann Arbor how long could you borrow
the bike for? Is this a metter of hours, of a day or so? And was all work
volumtary? Like the person who sits with the bikes, cleans them up,
maintanaince, etc...
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chi1taxi
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response 20 of 122:
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Apr 29 15:35 UTC 1995 |
You just buy them cheap or free. Naturely, there's "attrition," but you just
have to replace the lost/stolen ones.
I repeat, does anyone have ideas for communicating w. UoM students, especially
seniors, about to leave town? Many of these may ride old beaters that they'd
happily donate rather than cart home.
>
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bruin
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response 21 of 122:
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Apr 29 16:40 UTC 1995 |
I do remember when the green bikes were out about ten years ago, that I was
doing some P.R. work for a local bike shop, and among my duties was to let
people know about the allegedly unsafe conditions of these green bikes.
BTW, I have since severed my ties to that local bike shop, as I was becoming
uneasy with the store owner's negative attitude.
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peacefrg
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response 22 of 122:
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Apr 29 17:18 UTC 1995 |
Get onto the UofM gopher and look around.
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ajax
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response 23 of 122:
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Apr 29 23:17 UTC 1995 |
Re #19, people generally just rode the bikes for transport around the
campus area...you'd find one, ride it to the library, leave it there,
and someone else would find it, ride it to the dorm, and so on. No locks,
no central locale, no ids, no guards. Every once in a while, a group of
volunteers would round up those they could find, bring in new bikes and
parts, and fix them up.
Chi1, leaving fliers on kiosks, in businesses, or in campus buildings
would probably be a good way to reach out. Ads in the Michigan Daily would
have good exposure too. Though I think a project like this will require
the effort of several people, along with some planning, to be successful.
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steve
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response 24 of 122:
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Apr 30 02:04 UTC 1995 |
Unforunately, I think someone would have to contact the city
governemt and see what idiotic laws would have to be gotten around
in order to do this.
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