oBike (ceased operation)

Every Flying Dutchman has a bicycle, it’s the tourists that are left out now. Maybe it would be better for Amsterdam to have boat sharing.

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A credit card that also acts as an Easy Card? Or are we talking about credit cards that are just…credit cards.

I was unaware anything besides an Easy Card was usable. Got a source on this?

Just a regular credit card. Use the kiosk at the bike station, select “one time rental.” They will hold NT2,000 on your card until you return the bike.

Source is myself because I do it all the time. It’s a long and frustrating story, but basically a couple of years ago when I returned a bike their machine malfunctioned. The next day UBike contacted me saying I never returned the bike. Despite my protests that I had returned the bike and that I had two witnesses with me, I had to file a police report that the bike was stolen. Consequently they locked me out from using an Easy Card. Despite my continually requesting they check the video cameras where I returned the bike, and that they check their system for the bike number, they’ve continually acted like it’s too much ma fan. So I’m stuck using my credit card.

That’s…an interesting story. Sorry to hear about your situation.

To my knowledge, isn’t the rental service based on your phone number? If you have an SO or a friend who doesn’t use the system, you can sign up using their phone number and just buy another Easy Card?

I have a few family members that don’t know how to ride bikes, so I just use their phone numbers and attach them to some extra easy cards I have lying around.

I assume they can’t trace that it’s you if you use a different phone number and a different easy card number, right?

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I got a new easy card to try that, but so far the people I’ve asked already use the system with their phone numbers. UBike is pretty popular with the people I hang out with.

I just checked and I’m still locked out of the system. I can still use Ubike with my credit card, it’s just that the rental procedure takes a bit longer.

Could you get a pay as you go Sim to use for UBike?

Why not change your phone number or get a second phone number?

Even Ubike expects that everyone has an Easycard with mobile phone. Except people that steal bikes. :wink:

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All that just to rent a Youbike? Dedication!

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Boom. Bikes can’t be tracked after they’re locked.

Further helping my theory that these bikes are never being maintenance…ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl3Gl8w8n-Q

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There’s one parked next to a rice field in the middle ofnowhere in Yilan, I guess it’s bound to stay there for quite some time!

Yeah they are the walking dead. No plan for maintenance means society has to pick up the tag to clear the rubbish and recycle.

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So the ONLY thing going for oBike right now is that they can be parked at a convenient spot.

That convenience is also a nuisance.

So…

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I saw several obikes this weekend in New Taipei. One was thrown on an elevated section meant for plants near the side of the road. Another was parked on the sidewalk near a temple and had a very bent wheel. Don’t see how it’s possible to ride that one any more.

That’s a whole other story, but I don’t get that people treat things that are not their own differently from their personal belongings. Why distinguish between “mine” and “not mine” in this way? The whole environment I am living in is part of me in a sense. The street is not “mine”, but it’s part of my world, so if I throw garbage on the street I make my own environment less pleasant. It’s so short-sighted. Use the bikes or leave them where they are. If you use them, treat them like your own belongings. Why does that seem to be so difficult for so many people?

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A lot of Asian cultures have this “I am responsible for my area only” and the people don’t care about the general environment because it’s not their area of responsibility. There doesn’t seem to be any emphasis on civic duty to keep the whole country/city/state clean.

Don’t think it’s an Asian thing. It’s a human thing.

People in the West return their supermarket shopping carts only to the docking stations if there is a coin inside the cart they want to get back for example. People all over the world are not that different really.

I think for the older generation, yes.

The younger generation does feel a form of duty to keep their surroundings clean and take responsibility. There’s a local Youtubers that did a Huan Dao beach cleaning initiative and got over 1000 people show up at his Chia Yi event.

There are always a few idealistic types who try to fix the mess left by the masses. What Tzu Chi does for example is great, separating the garbage. But they didn’t have to do that (to that extent at least) if the majority of people would get their act together and separate their own garbage themselves when throwing out stuff.