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Bike Vending Machine could make bike rentals all the rage
This Bike Vending Machine is an ingenious design meant to facilitate bike rentals in urban environments. Customers could pay a small fee to get a bike from one of the machines and then they'd be able to ride it where they pleased. They could then return it to another bike machine across town, allowing for easy one-way trips.
The bikes would be loaded up with RFID tags to keep track of them, preventing people from running off with their freshly freed bike. It sounds like a great idea to me. I wish there was an easy way to bike around New York City without having to ride my own bike in from Brooklyn. Let's make this happen, Bloomberg.
Bike Dispenser, via Treehugger
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By lunapilot at 7:07 AM ON 08/15/07
A few European countries are already trying this out. They are finding that all the bikes end up at the bottom of hills!
By mindtech at 4:41 PM ON 08/15/07
There should be a rental fee as well as a deposit ... that way users are motivated to put the bicycles back in the machine. Also, if bikes are ending up at the bottom of hills, the general public will have motivated citizens to take them to the closest vending machine to get that deposit. This seems to really work in city with deposits on recycled items (cans). People spend a lot of energy collecting those cans, etc. just to get the deposit at the recycling center.
By okrasoup at 5:55 PM ON 08/15/07
They could simply use redbox's trick. Make a rental credit card only, and charge an extra $20 (or whatever sum...) per day it isn't returned until the bike has been paid for. I haven't heard of a lot of redbox people running off with DVD's since they'll eventually be paying for it.
By randommatt at 5:37 AM ON 08/17/07
I am happy to say that for once the Germans, big fans of making things complicated, found a simpler solution ;-). And did so quite some time ago.
Check that link on "Call a bike" http://www.callabike-interaktiv.de/kundenbuchung/process.php?proc=english&f=500&key=d850132b3e89772b5091b65a64f3eaaa...00000
No "Vending machines" needed. Just find a bike, unlock it using your cell phone, ride it wherever you want, lock it and leave it there.
It's simple, fairly cheap and very popular already. And: No bikes ending up in rivers or at the bottom of hills ;-)
By Kitwench at 7:21 AM ON 08/17/07
I'm all for the idea- but what's up with "Let's make this happen, Bloomberg." ?
If the idea is worth doing, then let private enterprise do it- the City has enough financial responsibilities without adding entrepreneurship to the list.
If it's not worth private enterprise's dime, it's going to be yet ANOTHER tax drain.
By sikanrong at 11:48 AM ON 08/17/07
I just got back from defcon. RFIDs are an interestingly insecure technology to be putting so much faith in. One can overwrite rfid data to (whatever) - you could turn a rental-bike in Arizona into a dead tagged bunny in Idaho.
...Then what?