Just got this email, so don't plan to ride Divvy home today:
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Divvy | 711 SE Grand | Portland | OR | 97214 |
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There you go with all of that rationality and legal stuff again.
Kevin C said:
A "qualified promise."
SECTION 16 LIMITATIONS ON AVAILABILITY OF SERVICES.
Alta makes every effort to provide the Services for 365 days per year; however, Alta does not guarantee that the Services will be available at all times, as force majeure events or other circumstances might prevent Alta from providing the Services from time to time.
Lisa Curcio 4.1 mi said:But Southwest Airlines never promised anyone 24/7/365 service for just under $0.21 per day!
Kevin C said:Storm leaves planes stranded for hours on Midway Tarmac.
Sometimes weather in Chicago adversely affects transportation options. For every 24 hour period Divvy is locked down, each Divvy annual pass holder is "losing" just under $0.21. Were it not for the disclosure in the initial contract which they all entered into, I'd smell a class action lawsuit.
Why do you have an axe to grind against Divvy? Extreme cost of divvy? An annual pass costs $75 which is less than a monthly pass to the CTA. The system costs about $22-30 million which is a lot less than the $2.5 billion the Illiana tollway is projected to cost or the $425 million for the red line station reconstruction on the south side. The city budget is around 3.5 billion so the divvy system is less than 1% of that. Hell, I'm pretty sure that the patches that the city did to the LSD over the fall cost almost as much as the Divvy system.
Tom Dworzanski said:
Exactly. Except Divvy (Alta) doesn't really save money. They make a profit. The more they shut down the more profit they earn get.
I was under the impression that the whole point of justifying (what I call) the extreme cost of Divvy was the great 24/7/365 service we would get, even when tourist revenues don't justify being open.
I was afraid it would be lost on you. ;-)
Lisa Curcio 4.1 mi said:
There you go with all of that rationality and legal stuff again.
Kevin C said:[snip]
I agree that we probably have too much public worship (esp. by government agents) happening but I don't see how this relates to Divvy or bikes. Unless there's been a recent spate of people celebrating the Madonna del Ghisallo around the US that I've totally missed.
Carrie Hirsch said:
As big as Alta Vike Share us you know their legal tean thought about this as a possibility. And our over liturgical society keeps humming along.
I thought that was a compliment!
h' 1.0 said:
Sorry, Kevin, I think you may be too late to breathe new life into this one. Michael B's declared us all morons, Lisa's insulted me, and 10 new people called Adam a whiner. There's really nothing left to do here.
Wonder if they could equip each Divvy with a small snow plow?
Now that's a funny autocorrect error. Thanks for the unintended humor. ;)
Carrie Hirsch said:
As big as Alta Vike Share us you know their legal tean thought about this as a possibility. And our over liturgical society keeps humming along.
I have no axe to grind against Divvy. And in general I think Divvy was worth the cost even if the cost was unfair. The superior technology, tested bicycles, and overall know-how should not be undervalued. The expectation that the system will run during Chicago winters when it is unprofitable is also worth a lot. My problem is with the shutdown. I don't buy into all the hypotheticals and parallels used to justify the shutdown because they simply do not reflect reality. The shutdown has also set a very bad precedent with a very low barrier to future system shutdown.
As for calling the cost extreme, I think it's accurate. But that doesn't mean I'm against it. Sometimes quality costs a lot. What I am against however is being ripped-off.
S said:
Why do you have an axe to grind against Divvy? Extreme cost of divvy? An annual pass costs $75 which is less than a monthly pass to the CTA. The system costs about $22-30 million which is a lot less than the $2.5 billion the Illiana tollway is projected to cost or the $425 million for the red line station reconstruction on the south side. The city budget is around 3.5 billion so the divvy system is less than 1% of that. Hell, I'm pretty sure that the patches that the city did to the LSD over the fall cost almost as much as the Divvy system.
Tom Dworzanski said:Exactly. Except Divvy (Alta) doesn't really save money. They make a profit. The more they shut down the more profit they earn get.
I was under the impression that the whole point of justifying (what I call) the extreme cost of Divvy was the great 24/7/365 service we would get, even when tourist revenues don't justify being open.
If they extended your membership by the 48 hours or so it was unavailable would you still feel ripped off?
I get that Divvy saved some cost by not having to maintain the system for two days but some specific figures to back up your claim that they're profiting in the thousands would be nice. And if they extend everyone's membership by two days then it's a wash since they won't gain revenue for an additional two days on everyone's membership renewal. I haven't heard that they will extend people's memberships but it would be the right thing to do.
On page 11 of this discussion you say "The more they shut down the more profit they earn get." By this logic they should just pack up and leave town today and never conduct business again.
Tom Dworzanski said:
I have no axe to grind against Divvy. And in general I think Divvy was worth the cost even if the cost was unfair. The superior technology, tested bicycles, and overall know-how should not be undervalued. The expectation that the system will run during Chicago winters when it is unprofitable is also worth a lot. My problem is with the shutdown. I don't buy into all the hypotheticals and parallels used to justify the shutdown because they simply do not reflect reality. The shutdown has also set a very bad precedent with a very low barrier to future system shutdown.
As for calling the cost extreme, I think it's accurate. But that doesn't mean I'm against it. Sometimes quality costs a lot. What I am against however is being ripped-off. And no, not 21 cents. The thousands Divvy profited from this little experiment.
I don't care about the 41 cents / 2 days (though it would be a nice gesture). I think Divvy should refund* CDOT (the city) the pro-rated cost of 2 days of service. It will be a five-figure amount**.
* When I say refund, I mean a substantial refund represented by not being reimbursed the costs typically claimed during winter days and not having those amounts "massaged" into operations of other days. Really, there should be a penalty but I don't see one skimming over the contract.
** The contract sets a first-year Operations and Maintenance budget (this is after $5000+ per bike, the $5,200 per station, startup, and installation are paid) of $7,837,356. $7,837,356 / 365 * 2 = $42,944.42. If we figure the bikes at the actual $1,200 cost the amount would be six-figures.
Rich S said:
If they extended your membership by the 48 hours or so it was unavailable would you still feel ripped off?
203 members
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