froggythefish t1_j7v4v73 wrote
Reply to comment by Aristosus in If you “lose” a citibike by ar1680
Stealing bikes doesn’t cause the bikes to be “beat to shit”… if they’re stolen, they aren’t on the rack. Citibike is an excuse for the city to not have real bicycle renting infrastructure. I support any act to help drive citibike into the ground, they littered the streets with piece of shit bikes they make no attempt to maintain and the government paid them for it.
Aristosus t1_j7v5onb wrote
Guarantee you it isn't the paying customers that I see taking citibikes and jumping stairs with them.
I also have no idea what kind of government-run bicycle renting infrastructure you're imagining that will somehow be better than citibike. Is there even a modern example in the US?
froggythefish t1_j7v65o3 wrote
If citibike was a public service they’d be able to maintain their shit regardless of profits. Other similar companies which let people rent scooters all fail, as they can’t maintain their scooters while maintaining profits. Like the MTA, their trains aren’t profitable but are still maintained, since it’s an actual public service. The private sector cannot be trusted to provide public services, it doesn’t work. If the state is going to shovel tax money into private companies which provide shit service, I support anyone who helped pay those taxes to use that service without paying extra fees. That includes stealing citibikes.
I_Cut_Shoes t1_j7v6u04 wrote
>If citibike was a public service they’d be able to maintain their shit regardless of profits
have you seen the mta
froggythefish t1_j7v7juo wrote
Their trains all work, they work well even. And that’s just their trains, they also have a fairly reliable bus service. All this, and it’s not profitable at all. This is the difference between public and private services, the MTA could let everyone ride for free, make zero revenue, and still run reliably. Private companies can’t compare to the reliability of a public service.
Aristosus t1_j7v6zyq wrote
So because citibike has provided "shit service" in your opinion, you think paying customers should suffer by encouraging freeloaders to steal a service—ergo you want to ensure more people suffer going forward.
Also, what makes you think "if citibike was a public service they’d be able to maintain their shit", rather than the extremely more likely case that they simply remove racks and bikes to reduce the maintenance load?
froggythefish t1_j7v7wnc wrote
Does the MTA remove stations to make maintenance easier? I’ve never heard of that. And yes, I’m saying that if your taxes paid for citibike, and citibike provides shit service, you may as well make the most of it and take the bike to maintain it yourself. Paying customers suffer? They should stop paying.
Aristosus t1_j7v98ov wrote
No, but the MTA certainly cut service during the pandemic when it was collecting significantly less in fares. Removing bike racks is as simple as loading them up on a flatbed and driving off.
I'm also not sure where you got the idea that Citibike is funded by taxes. They've received funding to build in underserved neighborhoods, sure, which definitely benefited those who otherwise wouldn't have access, and I'm sure wouldn't complain about the quality of service versus none at all. Your sense of entitlement for some grand level of bike quality completely ignores those people who just want any access they can get.
froggythefish t1_j7v9ovr wrote
The MTA cutting service when there’s lower demand makes sense, lol.
People can have all the access they want, to as high a quality as they’d like, right outside their building, by stealing one of those tax funded citibikes. And id fully support them in doing so.
Aristosus t1_j7vb8vr wrote
Your whole argument to justify stealing relies on the idea that Citibike is funded by taxes, which is pure fiction.
And the idea that a newly built publicly-run bike rental infrastructure would be a good allocation of funds while also exceeding what Citibike has achieved is both naive and insane.
froggythefish t1_j7vc9z7 wrote
Citibike is routinely given public funding lol.
NYC already has enough funds to reallocate to a bike service. I mean, surely the NYPD can spare some of those ten billion dollars.
Aristosus t1_j7ve4k6 wrote
Can you even find a single resource confirming that Citibike receives funding from taxes? Just one?
froggythefish t1_j7vfzft wrote
Aristosus t1_j7vgjws wrote
Did you even read the article whatsoever? This is a partnership for government employees to receive rideshare service. Try again.
froggythefish t1_j7vgn8v wrote
To shorten your comment: the government provided funding to the company that owns citibike
Aristosus t1_j7vgzfe wrote
Paying for a service =/= funding. You have a serious fundamental misunderstanding about what public funding means.
By your logic, is WB Mason publically funded because government offices buy their paper?
froggythefish t1_j7vh85c wrote
Paying for a service implies giving money to the provider of the service. Giving money to a company is funding them. Jeez.
Yes, any company which receives tax money is publicly funded.
Aristosus t1_j7vif8e wrote
So you think that a government contract allowing federal employees to get a discount on Lyft rides translates to "citibikes are funded by the government," and that you're entitled to steal bikes at your discretion because all things paid for by the government are actually owned by everyone? Is that really it?
froggythefish t1_j7vizu0 wrote
No… I think “giving tax money to the company that owns citibike” translates to “giving tax money to the company that owns citibike”. And I think the government only really exists if owned by the people. Otherwise, it’s just a violent occupying force.
Unrelated, but if citibike wants to keep people from stealing their bikes, maybe don’t store them… in public? Like, on the street? I mean, the least you could do for some dude who can’t park in front of his job or home anymore is let them steal a bike.
Aristosus t1_j7vk6kj wrote
Has it ever occurred to you that publicly traded companies have to disclose where their money goes? It's fairly straightforward to see that the government does not pay for Citibike to exist, but I have a feeling it's a lost cause to mention that.
Now your motivations make sense though. Started complaining how bikes are "litter", and now you're suggesting publicly accessible services not be made available in public. You don't actually give a shit about people using Citibike, you're just a car driver upset that bike racks take up precious parking spaces.
froggythefish t1_j7vkjod wrote
I don’t have a car nor do I want one. I want cars banned from travel within the city. Streets used to be, and should be, an area travelled primarily by pedestrians, bikes, and trams.
I also don’t think a private company should be able to just set up shop and profit from the publicly owned street.
Aristosus t1_j7vmilo wrote
If that's true, I don't know why you'd advocate for doing something that demonstrably causes users of bike sharing services to suffer. Private companies are not inherently bad, municipalities partner with them for practicality and in the best interest of the people. Do you think things would actually be better if the MTA decided to start manufacturing their trains instead of just purchasing them? Do you think the NYPD should manufacture their own cars instead of partnering with Ford? In many cases, using the private sector is the most efficient and cheapest means to an end, especially when it comes to setting up and maintaining a bike sharing network.
I'd rather not be taxed more for a service I periodically use, at a rate that costs the public 3x to create than it would for a private company to do so.
froggythefish t1_j7vnbju wrote
I would like if the MTA made their own trains, but currently they don’t have the infrastructure or funding necessary to set up said infrastructure, necessary to manufacture and test trains. The trains would be better, as safety and quality would be put before profits and cost, since the MTA doesn’t care about profits. The NYPD should not manufacture their own cars, as the NYPD doesn’t give a fuck about safety or quality, and is more focused on just beating and killing poor people. State manufacturing is objectively cheaper than private contractors. Which is logical. The private company needs to sell the service for more than it actually costs in order to make a profit. This means it’s cheaper to make or provide than to buy.
Aristosus t1_j7vova7 wrote
You have quite a fantastical image of the government, as if "use it or lose it" policies spending all the funds in a budget aren't a thing. Or that government projects aren't actually more expensive and take longer to finish. You have to come to terms with reality, the government sucks when it comes to doing things efficiently and effectively, and at no point will building something for the government ever not be done without the help of the private sector.
froggythefish t1_j7vpbhm wrote
Weird, other nations seem to manufacture stuff in government just fine, for an extremely cheap price. If the US can’t match the efficiency of even developing nations, the US government needs to be either heavily reformed or abolished
Aristosus t1_j7vpzck wrote
Heavily reformed, abso-fucking-lutely. Abolished? No bearing in reality.
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