The Chainlink

... according to this item from the Illinois Policy Institute:

http://illinoispolicy.org/blog/blog.asp?ArticleSource=6230

I have real basis on which to form an opinion. I have yet to try Divvy (I have plenty of my own bikes) and don't live in Chicago. A friend at work passed the link along.

Views: 3192

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

When reading that article, keep in mind that the Illinois Policy Institute is a conservative anti-tax think-tank.

My favorite line from the article: "For every taxpayer dollar spent on bike share programs, that dollar cannot be spent elsewhere in the local economy."

Really?  Well, for every taxpayer dollar spent on item X, that dollar cannot be spent for item Y in the local economy.

The solution is obvious here: stop spending taxpayer dollars on anything.

Sorry, "I have no real basis...". That's what I get for trying to bat something out quickly while at work.

S

The writer of the article lives in Schaumburg, IL

I LOVE DIVVY!!

 

Thanks Gov't and taxpayers!

I think people should have to pay to use the Divvy bikes.

Thank you, me!

Apie (10.6) said:

I LOVE DIVVY!!

 

Thanks Gov't and taxpayers!

They don't? Or was there a joke hidden in there someway?

h' 1.0 said:

I think people should have to pay to use the Divvy bikes.

I don't understand why so many people have to immediately jump to superficial attacks on the group like this is the Huffington Post or something. There are many holes to the content of the article there is not need for such nonsense.

Hole 1: Divvy hasn't been around for 12 months so it's not fair to split their total revenue by 12. In fact, even starting at the launch date wouldn't be fair unless you can someone compare only the original stations to the subset of the same stations at some point in the future.

Hole 2: These numbers don't account for the massive amounts of money Divvy is taking in from overage fees. Believe me, all those people laying on this beach this summer next to their rented Divvys were not meeting the 30 minute time window. Nor are other tourists or even regular riding key-fob holders (like yours truly).

Hole 3: You don't need a graduate degree in finance (though having one I will vouch for this) to know a capital-intensive project like this has high start-up costs that won't be recovered for years. A Divvy bike is a massive piece of steel that will last a long time. You have to spread the cost over many years and match those against revenues (there's also a need to account for the time value of money, disposal revenue, relative profit vs alternative modes of public transport to the city, relative costs versus other modes of transportation which one of the commentators on the article mentioned, and other fancy things).

Hole 4: There is a mind-share aspect to Divvy that requires time to develop. Many people are scared to adopt something new until something else happens (like being convinced to try it). Early adopters do not represent future usage. (Though if they are an indication of future use, I think Divvy has a bright future.)

Hole 5: The article puts tremendous weight on winter but that will ultimately be a minor driver of Divvy use. What really matters is the tourism industry in this city to feed system with $7 + overage fee riders continuously.

The article does point out something important though: "Chicago selected the politically connected ALTA despite the fact a local company, Bike Chicago, placed a bid that was nearly 40 percent cheaper." This, like all contracting in this city and state is a big problem I describe here. When someone recently complained about a Divvy situation, I wrote in to the city in support that person and received a reply from someone at this company. I'm sure there are so many layers of sub-contractors in this system that the costs will never be overcome by the revenues because the people who run the system will never let it happen.

Is there some requirement that the lowest bidder has to be chosen?

If I throw a bike share proposal together and undercut all the others, do I automatically get it?

Bike Chicago sucks ass and learning that they didn't get it brightened my day.

All major search engines must have been down the day the "Illinois Policy Institute" wrote this piece.

Coverage here:

http://bikeportland.org/2012/03/19/alta-bicycle-share-wins-chicago-...

and here:

http://gridchicago.com/2012/bike-sharing-selection-process-tainted-...

and here:

http://www.suntimes.com/11341996-417/rival-citys-bike-sharing-progr...



Tom Dworzanski said:

The article does point out something important though: "Chicago selected the politically connected ALTA despite the fact a local company, Bike Chicago, placed a bid that was nearly 40 percent cheaper." This, like all contracting in this city and state is a big problem I describe here. When someone recently complained about a Divvy situation, I wrote in to the city in support that person and received a reply from someone at this company. I'm sure there are so many layers of sub-contractors in this system that the costs will never be overcome by the revenues because the people who run the system will never let it happen.

Do roads and expressways make money? 

I'll bet revenues double when Divvy puts out the boys bikes.

RSS

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service