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Comment by hcarvalhoalves | Hacker News Reader

"Premium Rush" [1]?

I didn't knew bike couriers existed before I saw this movie on TV. Is this common in NY, or is Uber introducing the idea? Is it common elsewhere?

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn6ie1zCkZU

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I didn't knew bike couriers existed before I saw this movie on TV. Is this common in NY, or is Uber introducing the idea?

Bicycle couriers have been in New York City and other large cities in the United States (including mine, Minneapolis) for a long time. They are especially suited for traveling from one building in a dense "downtown" area to another.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_messenger

http://www.blazingsaddles.net/

(In New York at least) they also deliver food.

Bike couriers date back to the 1860s in general and New York in particular to at least the 1890s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_messenger#History

There is a big bike courier scene in Melbourne (Australia) with full hipster beards and fixies.

That movie's precursor:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091814/

Bike messenger services are commonplace in the NYC area. Uber is using their logistics prowess to make it more efficient and probably cheaper.

oh yeah, bike courriers have been around in NYC for over a decade. Same goes for every major metropolis in the USA.

"over a decade", heh - I was one 30 years ago.

when i saw this news, i also remember the same movie.

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