Liam 2d ago
In today’s lesson about integrating public transport, new technologies and private providers, and accessibility in urban design, here are two pictures: one is a kerb bus stop and the other is a major pedestrian underpass
Show threadLiam 2d ago

All transport modes impose some kind of externality. Trains need marshalling yards and a permanent way, and have a really serious ongoing maintenance budget. For public modes that’s planned in: bus routes get more roadwork, stops get isolated from parking, it’s accounted for.

For *private* modes like these there’s every incentive for companies to offload the externality (parking) onto the public, and specifically the spaces of the people least likely to be able to step over a tangle of bicycles.

Show threadAdam2d ago
@liamvhogan everywhere these bikes are they are a problem. It speaks to the capture of councils by capital that they are permitted to operate like this.
Show threadLiam 
@Kels_316 it’s a typical verticality problem: the obvious solution is for *some* level of government to say, you want to operate, sure, you need to plan for dedicated parking and storage (like every bus company does). But is it Councils or the State government? Both think it’s the other one because there’s no ‘private hire electric bicycle’ powers set out in legislation yet
Mar 25 at 10:23pmWeb
Show threadLiam 2d ago
@Kels_316 [making the companies spend on parking infrastructure would seriously, seriously affect their bottom line]
Show threadAdam2d ago
@liamvhogan yes this is where the rubber meets the road. Cities should be responsible for this stuff, but they're run by the worst people in those cities.
Show threadJustified Ancient of Moomin2d ago
@Kels_316 @liamvhogan the stupid thing is that this is all avoidable: in Montreal they have a municipally-owned bikeshare system called Bixi. They have actual parking stations, located in on-street parking bays. When you ride, you have to go from one Bixi station to another, otherwise you lose your deposit (which you make when you sign up for the system). You don’t need an app to use them.
Crucially, no private hire scooter or bike company is permitted to compete with them, so those companies can’t clutter up the footpaths.
It is so well-loved in Montreal that people write books about how much they love Bixi.
Show threadAdam2d ago
@ThermiteBeGiants @liamvhogan yes but I refer to my earlier comments about who runs cities, at least in this country.
Show threadJustified Ancient of Moomin2d ago
@Kels_316 @liamvhogan I agree. Melbourne had an “official” docked bike share system but cancelled it just before e-bikes took off. Really silly stuff imo
Show threadLiam 2d ago
@ThermiteBeGiants @Kels_316 the actual technology is excellent. Imagine telling someone thirty years ago you could hire an electric bike that pedals for you. It’s just the problem is spatial
Show threadAdam2d ago
@ThermiteBeGiants @liamvhogan I was in brisbane last weekend and the suburbs are littered with those lime bikes and scooters.
Show threadMike [SEC=OFFICIAL]2d ago
@ThermiteBeGiants @Kels_316 @liamvhogan the thing that really gets me is how often you see those things "parked" across tactile paving.
Show threadAdam2d ago
@mike @ThermiteBeGiants @liamvhogan it feels like boomer energy to complain about them, but c'mon!
Show threadMike [SEC=OFFICIAL]2d ago
@Kels_316 @ThermiteBeGiants @liamvhogan once you start noticing that one thing, your boomer brain grows three sizes.
Show threadBiggles 20X6!2d ago
@Kels_316 @ThermiteBeGiants @liamvhogan "Private Companies Are More Efficient" ( neolib rent-seeking enablement intensifies)
Show threadJustified Ancient of Moomin2d ago
@Kels_316 @liamvhogan also: for about 4 months of the year Montreal is basically snowed-under; people still ride bikes during that time but for Bixi bikes it would cause way too much rusting and premature degradation. So they pull up all the skids on tilt-trucks during that time, do heavy maintenance on the bikes and look at all the data about which Bixi stations were used the most. Then when spring comes around, they deploy the Bixi stations in new locations where they think they’ll be used the most based on that data. It’s really cool stuff, and it is municipally-run!
Show threadAdam2d ago
@ThermiteBeGiants @liamvhogan this is the future leftists want
Show threadJustified Ancient of Moomin2d ago
@Kels_316 @liamvhogan 
Show threadJustified Ancient of Moomin2d ago
@liamvhogan @Kels_316 in my LGA we have recently started an “exclusive” trial of these stupid hire bikes with Lime/Uber. They are supposed to be parked in designated “virtual” parking bays, usually on nature strips. Is this done? Fuck no. The bikes are vandalised and dumped all over footpaths
Show threadAdam2d ago
@ThermiteBeGiants @liamvhogan where we lived in Melbs was on a major bike trail network to/from the CBD and these things were scattered everywhere and usually ended up in the river.
Show threadColin2d ago

@ThermiteBeGiants @liamvhogan @Kels_316 They should be returned to their natural habitat: The Yarra.

I loathe these abuses of public space for private profit. Instead of building better cycling infrastructure and public transport.

Show threadHugh2d ago

@liamvhogan
@Kels_316 Sometimes it goes the other way though. Melbourne City Council tried to completely ban "dockless" sharebikes at one point and the state government manoeuvred to prevent them because something something green transport.

Yarra City finally got something right though, on scooters: "Sure you can operate here, but we will be providing no subsidy and in fact here's the license fee". Suddenly it was unprofitable and both companies pulled out all their scooters the next week.

Show threadAdam2d ago
@hugh @liamvhogan they have all the levers they need but are normally incentivised to not pull them.
Show threadJulie2d ago
@Kels_316 @hugh @liamvhogan our council has started providing corals that the bikes and scooters are forced to park in by geofencing. The littering of footpaths isn't inevitable.
Show threadJulie2d ago
@hugh @liamvhogan @Kels_316 sure but councils are subsidising many forms of transport, which would decrease if the subsidy stopped.