My son had a junker bike in Manchester. He took his eyes off it for a maximum of 15 seconds. It got nicked.I'm tempted to buy a junker bike that I can just leave unlocked, but it would still be a PITA if it went missing and I had to walk 30 minutes home, rather than 5 on the bike.
Perhaps the death penalty and the endemically corrupt judicial system might be a part of that? Personally, I prefer stolen bikes to arbitrary execution.It's pathetic and a sad indictment on the state of society
These schemes work really well in China (apart from oversupply). There is no significant theft or damage problem. We may be somewhat sniffy about countries like PRC but this is one area where they are head and shoulders above UK
It also has an implication for jobs and employment. These aren't just faceless employees, they are real people with real lives. I was at Manchester Piccadilly train station last summer and got talking to a chap who worked as a maintenance and relocation/recovery unit. He had an e-bike towing a trailer capable of carrying around 6 hire bikes and rode around picking up bikes for repair and shuttling good bikes back to hotspots where usage was high. Probably not the best paid job in the world, but a job and something to get up for in the morning. He also seemed genuinely interested in bikes and enjoyed the job (even in 'sunny' Manchester ). He even commented that I should really replace my worn front tyre on my bike while we were chatting. If the bike hire scheme gets pulled then he and others like him will be out of work. The crime DOES have a consequence, and it isn't just to the profit/loss account at the big parent company!Apparently if they pull out of Manchester there could be implications for the company in Newcastle. I hope not, because it doesn't seem to be getting anywhere near those levels of abuse here and it would be a shame to lose it.
Cant help feeling this is is all just a bit of self created PR...
Mobike are in 200 cities, Manchester is their first outside Asia. There loss rate in Manchester is about 10%. They wont say what it is elsewhere.
Rats! Beaten by Sheffield.
Ofo Sheffield packed up their bikes and went home in July. It looks very much like everybody is pulling out of the provinces and heading for the capital*.
Having lived and worked there I can say that it isn't the judicial system or sentences.Perhaps the death penalty and the endemically corrupt judicial system might be a part of that? Personally, I prefer stolen bikes to arbitrary execution.
(Adding with haste: No, I don't mean they execute people for stealing bikes, just that arbitrary authoritarianism is not a model for us to emulate)
I expect that's big part of it, yes, having lived in Asia myself among similar stigma. But doesn't social stigma itself arise from actual social necessity? In a society in which punishment for crime is severe and often arbitrary, with no independent judiciary, and where families are often harassed for the criminality of their members, I can see how such social stigma can easily arise.Having lived and worked there I can say that it isn't the judicial system or sentences.
It's about the culture of respect for property and the importance of family. Having a criminal record in China has a huge stigma associated with it