Tried out the Toronto bike rental system today. Kind of a discouraging experience.
- Bike lanes aren't really a thing. Some streets have them, others don't, on at least one major throughfare I used the bikeline started and stopped and where present the markings were worn, meaning I wasn't sure sometimes if there was a bikelane.
- Unlike bike rental in other cities, you can't lock the bike from the app when it's not at a station. There's also no kickstand.
- More expensive than the TTC.
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@mcc no kickstand?! north americans are unhinged
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I think I was imagining it would be useful to rent a bike for a bit, ride around to a few local stores & do some shopping. Whereas the Bikeshare Toronto model seems to be kind of more like a point-to-point model— you travel directly from bikeshare point to bikeshare point, no stops, you travel on certain fixed routes in between (which I guess you just have to know when there's a throughfare with a bike lane and when to stick to side streets). Suspiciously similar to the TTC (but more expensive).
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The whole thing really made me see the attraction of those scooter things. Scooters are more convenient for a route where you ride part of the way and walk part of the way, which is what in practice I found myself doing with the bike due to the inconsistent bike lanes. I also could have in principle folded up a scooter and carried it into a store, instead of having to find and use a lock point (and pay an extra $1 unlock fee) or risk it getting stolen (and pay a $1200 lost bike fee).
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(To be clear: "This street has bikelanes part of the way" is much worse than "there is no bikelane". If there's no bikelane I don't try to take the street and aim for a sidestreet or something. But if there *seems* to be a bikelane I might plan a route around using that street, and its bikelane, only to discover suddenly I'm sharing the regular car lane with a series of aggressive trucks passing me fairly close.)
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@0xabad1dea this is what happens when you normalize city services being provided by out-of-province contractors
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@mcc I've explained to Dutch people that "basic" bikes in the US may cost about the same as basic Dutch ones, but they don't come with lights, mud flaps, a cargo rack, a kickstand, or a wheel lock... which to them doesn't sound "basic" so much as "we stuck a rod through two wheels and called it a finished bike"
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Stephen Crane
rinon@infosec.exchange@0xabad1dea @mcc kickstands are just extra weight and there’s nowhere I can leave a bike where I shouldn’t lock it to something anyway. Am I a heathen? Probably. But I specifically have avoided kickstands and I regret nothing.
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crzwdjk ✅
crzwdjk@mastodon.social@charlotte @0xabad1dea @mcc I think it might actually be illegal to sell bikes with lights instead of reflectors. They do come with a sticker that says "do not ride at night" though! Also bikes are regulated by the CPSC as toys and not by the hughway safety agency as vehicles.
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Charlotte 
/Cinny 
charlotte
@0xabad1dea @mcc the lights come with reflectors here. And bikes also have extra separate reflectors
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