Andy Burnham: don’t throw Manchester hire bikes in the canal

[MichaelW2]

According to The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...dont-throw-manchester-hire-bikes-in-the-canal

What can induce the yoof of Manchester to treat their bikes with respek?

 

[AndyRM]

Mobike pulled out of Newcastle and Gateshead for similar reasons.

They've been replaced by an electric scooter scheme which seems popular and a bit less prone to vandalism.

 

[HMS_Dave]

"I would just say to people: these are your bikes, we own them. So, please look after them,” he said. “Damaging your own stuff doesn’t make sense.” He insisted he would rather they didn’t call them “Burnham Bikes” but stick to their Sunday name, inspired by Manchester’s civic symbol, the worker bee."

Im not so sure that the people tossing these things into the drink are council tax paying, newspaper reading individuals who partake in a spot of "Hire a Bike, Lob a Bike" type activity. Im also not really sure his speech to the proletariat is going to make an iota of difference to the frequency of "worker bee's" in the bottom of the Irwell. It happens everywhere unfortunately...

 

[SydZ]

As in the report, Chinese company, Mobike, pulled out from Manchester back in 2018 due to loss and vandalism. Sad to see nothing has changed.

 

[DCLane]

This is pre-launch and he's aware of potential issues. How long will it take before Manchester's scallies figure out how to defeat the GPS tracker?

 

[Beebo]

It’s no excuse but when kids are drunk they do silly things.
The company needs to come up with a better plan to protect their assets.
Boris Bikes have to be docked securely which makes them less susceptible.

 

[fossyant]

I'd borrow an electric bike to get into the centre without getting sweaty. I've seen the docking stations go in near work, and glad to see you can 'off hire' without needing an empty dock - they'll all end up in the same place. I did use the Mo-bikes a few times, and my Mrs used them more than me.

 

[T4tomo]

It’s no excuse but when kids are drunk they do silly things.
The company needs to come up with a better plan to protect their assets.
Boris Bikes have to be docked securely which makes them less susceptible.

the new Manchester bee bikes are docked too. Dockless schemes like mobike are silly as bikes get lobbed in canals and left in completely inappropriate places making town centres look a right mess.

 

[Rusty Nails]

This week the Nextbike scheme in Cardiff was suspended. Half their bikes have been either stolen or vandalised. I have seen a few thrown in the river.

Such a shame, especially for all the university students and visitors who use them a lot.

 

[Alex321]

This week the Nextbike scheme in Cardiff was suspended. Half their bikes have been either stolen or vandalised. I have seen a few thrown in the river.

Such a shame, especially for all the university students and visitors who use them a lot.

Yeah, I saw that reported last night, and was about to post to that effect here, but you beat me to it.

 

[mjr]

Do you think it's really "yoof" or are some of the less scrupulous van-owning members of the licensed hire trade possibly taking out the competition again, like in Cambridge in 1993?

 

[Rusty Nails]

Do you think it's really "yoof" or are some of the less scrupulous van-owning members of the licensed hire trade possibly taking out the competition again, like in Cambridge in 1993?

The licensed trade sabotage idea wasn't mentioned in the link you provided. Was that proved at the time?

I doubt very much that the Cardiff situation is anything other than vandalism and a bit of opportunist theft. A lot of the e-bikes on the scheme were taken and stripped for parts.

 

[mjr]

The licensed trade sabotage idea wasn't mentioned in the link you provided. Was that proved at the time?

Not as far as I know. It's a year before I moved east the first time. Like the link says, it's a legend.

 

[Drago]

I was going to suggest that its disgruntled conservative voters, but some humourless git won't get the joke and will grass, so i won't.

 

[annedonnelly]

Mobike pulled out of Newcastle and Gateshead for similar reasons.

They've been replaced by an electric scooter scheme which seems popular and a bit less prone to vandalism.

The electric scooters have technology that can restrict them to certain areas. I was talking to one of their team last week - they have restricted access close to the river to make chucking them in more difficult.

The scheme does seem to be working well. The chap claimed something like 40% of car journeys being replaced by scooter use.