viaCycle (YC S12) Brings Shared Bikes to SF Powered by SMS and Voice

twilio.com

40 points·koji··5 comments

Glad to see this coming to SF. It's one of the things that I miss the most from Mexico City, where the EcoBici (http://thecityfix.com/blog/mexico-city-launches-ecobici-bike...) program its one of the best ways to get around on the upscale neighborhoods.

I can see the bikes on GT campus from my desk all day. As someone who likes to ride a bike I think the idea is neat, but I wonder who actually uses them..? Maybe they do well, but it seems they just sit there all day.

Plus are people supposed to carry a helmet around or just forgo brain protection?

In the beginning things at GT were quiet because we didn't do a good job of marketing, but they're picking up. We've seen 30% monthly usage growth since we launched, and that growth has continued into summer, despite 1/3rd the normal campus population. Even the busiest bike systems in the world only have about 30% of their fleet in use at any given time - any more than that just becomes chaos.

It's difficult to offer helmets with each bike trip, but we do offer ways for users to get subsidized helmets, and are always working to educate and improve safety. As the system becomes more popular, we hope users consider keeping helmets at their desk or at home for easy access.

Large discussion about this, approx. 5 days ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4386766

I love the photo of you guys in suits with the bikes. No one would mistake you for bike loving hippies - you look more like superheroes in disguise

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