jm
Hustlin' Helper
Joined 3 years ago
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Re: Joyriders and All Access
Thank you, Jess Your help is very much appreciated. It's great that you are here to help. It would have been interesting earning 250pts in NYC to see if the Joy Rider reward would have kicked in, but it was too much fun riding NYC's bike paths, to stop and "work." Back in Chicago, it's still a challenge earning points picking up the Divvy un-docked eBikes and returning them to a station quickly. You can travel a long way in 1-2 minute, but if you dock the bike "early" the ride runs a high chance of not being credited. Setting aside (for now:) it's unfair to charge us for eBike minutes while we're working for Lyft. Something similar to being required to shop at the company store with inflated prices, but on top of that charge, I also have to let the clock run, meaning pay more money, over 1 minute, sometimes 2 minutes, just hoping the points will be credited if I arrive at a station "too soon." Sure, the grace period allowing us to re-dock broken bikes without penalty is essential, and smart programming, but it would be helpful if the GPS could figure out we just moved the bike a quarter mile in 1.45 minute? The cut off time seems to be arbitrary, because I'm still getting it wrong. It's not about the lost points as much as the punch in the gut and broken momentum when the points are not credited on legitimate rides, or worse, when the ride was to extend the boost. I'm not complaining as much as just saying, because what's truly unfair is charging us for redistributing eBikes. Hunting for, or moving eBikes between stations is a choice—one that not many Divvy Bike Angels make because the costs are high and the earnings are low. But the glow in people’s eyes when we show up at a dock with an eBike shows how valuable the effort really is. If only Lyft appreciated that effort and stopped gouging us—I'm paying 24% for redistributing eBikes. Thanks again, JessRe: Joyriders and All Access
New York was great. Better than great. We’re thinking about moving there, already checking out StreetEasy and dreaming about it. What we really liked was how people make eye contact when you're biking, and the way cyclists and drivers seem to communicate in Manhattan. The Avenues protected bike lanes are useful, you can easily ride from lower Manhattan all the way up to 110th Street pretty fast. It just feels easy to get around. I noticed a lot of streets also have protected bike lanes, which is really nice. I didn’t get yelled at too much for going the wrong way in the bike lanes either, and riding over the bridges was exhilarating. We could go back and forth on those bridges all day. The manual bikes were in decent shape, though some were a bit beat up. The e-bikes seemed to be in better condition, and the docks are nice overall, except for that A-B dock situation – trying to fit a bike in-between was a hassle. And of course, finding an empty dock can be a problem since a lot of the stations are full. Compared to Chicago, the Points for Bike Angels in New York weren’t as generous, but on the plus side, the docking stations are much closer together, and there are more of them overall. The elephant in the room is the cost. You really need a lot of Lyft credits because we spent hundreds of dollars on CitiBikes, just using them for a few hours a day. It adds up quickly, so Lyft credits are essential. Even if we lived in New York, I think it would be hard to earn as many Bike Angels points as in Chicago. I didn’t do as much BA as I planned, but it still seems almost impossible to match Chicago's numbers in the same amount of time. And then there's Lyft. We took a one-mile ride in Manhattan, and it cost $69 for less than 15 minutes. (pic)
