Sunshine Yellow?
On an overcast day, the Vienna Citibikes really stand out! But are they too bright to ride? I admit that I have avoided renting these, because I don't fancy riding around looking like an enormous advert for a bank.
Here are the tamer blue versions on the left, but they too are covered with enormous adverts. What do you think? More bout Vienna Citibikes here.
When in Vienna do as the Viennese do? LOL
ReplyDeleteI know no shame, I probably would ride one.
At least they are available to ride. I have to go an BUY a bike to ride when I go places, seems I only go places where rentals don't exist.
Aaron
They are available, but at a cost that increases with each hour you rent them. This is done to encourage you to use the bicycles for only short single trips and then promptly return them, but it makes the rentals stressful and impractical for many people.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you work in an area where there are no return stations nearby, it is financially unfeasible to keep the bicycle between the time of the morning commute and the evening commute. To me this seems to largely undermine their usefulness. But I guess it is better to have some sort of city bike system than none.
I find them very handy for going out at night and riding to train stations and such where I wouldn't want to leave my bike for a longer time. There are newer blue bikes (they also have better brakes) with only the Citybike logo on them. I always try to get one of those. For some strange reason my dad preferred the yellow ones though when he visited. Btw, I also wrote something about them in my blog once, but more dealing with infrastructure and how to rent: http://cyclingisgoodforyou.blogspot.com/2009/04/long-tradition-of-shared-citybikes-in.html
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't like is that the system currently only covers the districts in the center and not the area where I live. But they are going to expand (which hopefully leads to a denser and wider network), and in the future the bikes will even have 3 gears and a better basket. That's what they said a few months back anyway ;-).
It is interesting to know that even people who own bicycles rent the Citibikes for convenience. And the updates they are planning sound good. I do like the overall shape of the bikes, and I think the fender/dress-guard contraptions are very cool.
ReplyDeleteI think it's very cool that they are available. Every city should have them. The yellow ones are kinda cool but my first thought about the yellow with the logo was nuclear waste. Don't ask my why but that's where my mind wandered to.
ReplyDeleteI rented these bikes while in Vienna. It was great! The stations were everywhere and it was so convenient. I even felt safe cycling at night.
ReplyDeleteYes, the yellow is a bit of an eyesore. Velib seems to be a better compromise.
Wish US cities had mass bike-rental systems.
Jen -- I see what you mean re the nuclear waste hazard resemblance!
ReplyDeleteChrista -- The stations are everywhere in central Vienna, but not in peripheral neighborhoods. So the system is better suited for visitors than for locals. But they're working on expanding it, which is great.
I'd be curious to know the percentage breakdown - local vs. tourist usage.
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