Sharing bikes in Shanghai | Hacker News Reader

Sharing bikes in Shanghai

projectgus.com

84 pointsangusgr23 comments

I used a Mobike when visiting Guangzhou last year.

It is amazing how fast they've overtaken the city. They seemed to be everywhere and ridden by huge numbers of people.

I'm a pretty frequent Boris Bike user in London (500 miles a year on the rental bikes) and thought the dockless GPS system was a great improvement on London's docking stations.

We cycled to a brewery and left the bikes outside the front door which was much more convenient than having to look for a cycle hire rack. There's absolutely no need to plan your route around fixed infrastructure which is very liberating.

Ofo has claimed that it is the biggest transportation platform in the world, with more than 20 million rides in one day (yes more than Uber, and even Didi).

Wonderful run down on the bike sharing situation in China. In regards to the notion that 1 RMB per half hour is cheap, I would say it is fair. One RMB has buying power equal to about one USD in most situations.

I've lived in different cities in China and US. 4-6 RMB to 1 USD in major cities like Beijing/Shanghai, and 1-3 RMB to 1 USD in less developed cities or sururban area. Less developed a city is, less RMB to USD in purchasing power for most domestic goods.

> One RMB has buying power equal to about one USD in most situations.

I strongly disagree, with one RMB in China you can only get a lighter (cheap one) in 7-11, I can't really think of anything else for that price.

For those of us that never held a USD in their hands: What would you be able to buy with a single Dollar?

Almost anything you can imagine.[0][1]

[1] https://www.dollartree.com/ [1] https://www.gobankingrates.com/personal-finance/best-dollar-...

For a somewhat apples to apples comparison, a 20 oz bottle of Coke (590 mL) cost me $1.69 in a city of 1 million people.

For 1 USD you could buy:

1.5L water bottle

2 stamps (cheapest ones) to send 2 letters

1 liter of gas (for cars)

About 2/3rd of one McDonald's hamburger

About 2/3rd of one avocado

In the USA if I need a quick breakfast I grab a bagel with a spread for about $3; in China I will grab a noodle bowl for 3 RMB or a couple baozi for 2 RMB each.

Other points I use to come up with my recommendation that outside Beijing and Shanghai you treat 1 USD to be equal to 1 to 2 RMB.

Bus Ride - $2, RMB 1-3 Quick lunch - $8-15, RMB 10-20 Beer at a basic bar - $6-8, RMB 8-12 Beer at store: $1-2, RMB 2-4

Of course this is for domestic products in both countries. Imports cost more and follow exchange rate. For example, in China imports are usually exchange price + 25% import tax (electronics, cars).

Having bikes chained everywhere is a common sight in China and other developing countries -- even in developed countries where biking is a popular mode of transportation like the Netherlands.

This is less common in the US. I wonder if Americans will tolerate having bikes everywhere, like the Chinese or the Dutch do.

You tolerate cars everywhere, so why not?

Apples to oranges.

Its a fair comparison. Where I live many roads have parallel parking available, were people leave their cars in public. Since a single car spot can house maybe 10 bikes, a 10% impact on available car parking could allow all drivers the option to bike.

How so?

Even if they do tolerate it, the biggest impediment to adoption of bikes in the US, is its vast suburbia. This itself makes it so unbearable. Cycling just isn't fun when you're not able to see other cyclists, humans, stores and actually socialize with your society.

Let's not forget the very real possibility of death when cycling on a US road. You are completely at the mercy of the auto. In most cities dedicated bike lanes with any barriers or protection are very rare.

It is not everywhere per say. There are restrictions saying where you can put your bikes. There are designated places in cities where bikes are allowed. For example, in San Francisco, there are only certain places where you can park your bikes.

America: where you can park your car wherever you want (and laws are set up to mandate construction of parking access for new buildings), but parking your bike is limited to specific areas.

Just in case there's anyone still harboring the illusion that the auto/petroleum industry isn't thoroughly dominant in US culture.

That's absolute nonsense. I can't park my car on a sidewalk. I can't park my car in the middle of a park on the grass.

Sure, there's no doubt that cars still dominate in the US but yours is a hysterically fallacious comparison.

Additionally I find that bike parking is literally never enforced unless you're directly inconveniencing someone who then calls it in.

You actually can park your car on a sidewalk in a lot of American cities. For example, in Los Angeles:

http://la.streetsblog.org/2017/04/12/parkway-parking-really-...

well no, you still can't park on the sidewalk in LA, only the parkway (area between the sidewalk and the curb) or the apron (part of the driveway between the sidewalk and the road).

in any case, i would love to have this kind of inexpensive rackless bike sharing in LA. the metro has bike sharing in downtown (https://bikeshare.metro.net/), but it's not rackless and is only economical if you live and/or work there and can use it often. santa monica has expensive, racked bike share (https://santamonicabikeshare.com/), blah.

(i used to bike quite a bit in LA but my bike was stolen... from a well-lit metro station, no less.)

There are a few I had never heard of here. My recent experience is mostly in Kunming and Shenzhen, but also Beijing. IMHO all three places have Mobike and Ofo dominating the options, with Ofo winning and Bluegogo as an honorable mention.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com