In recent years, with the efforts of The Recyclery, the Blue Urban Bikes program has taken off in Chapel Hill / Carrboro. Unfortunately, I believe that the ultimate endgame for this effort will be the same as the previous “Yellow Bike” effort– demolition by neglect.
To see what I mean, check out the chain on this bike outside Carr Mill Mall.
There’s a point past which people won’t ride a bike with rusty gears for speed or safety reasons, and the BUB bikes are getting there. With fewer people riding, the courageous volunteers who originally comitted to maintain the bikes for free feel less motivation to do so, the bikes fall into further disrepair, and eventually the program ends with a whimper.
The thriving programs in Paris and other big cities share two attributes– customer payments for using the system, and advertising revenue to a company that keeps the bikes in a state of good repair.
Zipcar works on similar principles in our area. Can we get local bikesharing to a similar place?
