China’s Bike Sharing Disaster

[@napskate]

Dockless bikes/scooters are a mess everywhere. They suck and are a mess because people are basically lazy and greedy.

[@thejamescorwin]

Agree. But it’s also suuuuuper convenient while riding

[@RayFromTheHayclan]

This is a mess that even Wal-e couldn't clean up

[@davidclark3304]

St Paul Minnesota tried to set up a shared bike program. It was on one of those "nice sounding" ideological things. "Why, around here we don't use our cars. We're good people." They were painted green so you could know what ones they were, and there was no charge. You found a bike and rode it to wherever you were going, and just leave it there for someone else. Within a short time there were none left. Who knows where they went, and presumably they were re-painted and commandeered as personal property.

[@TikeMyson69]

100% recicled. Doesn't get much more environmentally friendly than that.

[@bryanhill1406]

Don't rent a bike, buy one, and get a good lock... Renting is for suckers.

[@mengniuhk5923]

salute to James for such a incredible history of shared bike. I enjoy shared bike so much. It gives not just convenience but also the joy of riding a bike inside of city .People are now more discipline and one can see the more tidy situation of the parked bikes. The thing I donot like is that they tend to replace current manpower bike with motorbike. That is a tragedy to me.

[@paulpisters668]

What an incredible waste of materials.

[@user-s1o3nr532]

There has to be government subsidies involved. I'm not familiar with business in China, but if it follows the usual model, private companies are extremely reluctant to invest themselves but can't get enough of taxpayer-funded government subsidies and will churn out anything in any quantity however useless in order to claim public money.

[@nessimrihani5962]

Fun fact : they are not in the business of transport. They are in the business of banking (any company or whatever that asks for a deposit is actually a bank!)

[@pip3453]

you are so hilarious you made my night thank you!!

[@thejamescorwin]

That was the plan! Hahahaha. Glad you enjoyed it :D

[@mitchtherighteous]

Communist societies are built on waste and this is a hilarious story of how these stupid companies create waste. Also Didi is getting blasted by the CCP for releasing detailed road data in the USA as part of their IPO listing or maybe they're just going after Masayoshi. Either way these services suck.

[@thejamescorwin]

@@mitchtherighteous It just sucks that it doesn't HAVE to be that way! Meituan bike is decently good at this point. I rarely have trouble with broken bikes now. I just wish they would do a thorough analysis before making their decisions.

[@SteashEdits]

Your videos are amazing! I hope you get the recognition you deserve soon!

[@thejamescorwin]

Your comments are amazing! Thanks for that 😀 fingers crossed!

[@ChipWeinberger]

Thank you for making this! I was so curious looking for an update! Fantastic animations haha edit: wow just realized how few views there are. Surprising because its so good!

[@ordinaryman2299]

they had free bikes here in melbourne australia , people abused the hell out of them !!! the local councils got fed up with them littering the streets they banned them ???

[@blauwzakjecrack]

awesome and intrestring insight on this subject that i was unaware of + brilliant delivery, very informative and fun to watch! Thank you!

[@kenclarkii2261]

I cant believe nobody took care of the bikes. Thats terrible. No ownership equals no feeling of responsibility for maintenance, i guess. Seems like all these people wanting one of these bikes didn't pay attention to the video.

[@Pbav8tor]

How is this not an environmental catastrophe? They are covering parks and temple complexes. It's not just in China either.

[@jaildofs6410]

Thanks for the video. Now we know all the videos with piles of bikes. This is part of the business and I hope someday bikes share works in the future!

[@thejamescorwin]

I have a more recent video with an update about the current situation. You should check that out!

[@vincenttayelrand]

My Netherlands went through 60 years of bike sharing schemes and pretty much all of them failed. I doubt whether the relatively new e-bike sharing scheme will break that trend

[@thejamescorwin]

I think they can work with REALLY good management and another business to back them up. Doing 100% bike share as a business I don’t think is possible

[@madsam0320]

It’s coming to U.K. too. They should be checking the registrations really strictly, any naughty, selfish, mindless users will be banned and blacklisted on all share bikes. Some people do not deserve nice things.

[@richardgomez2637]

Love it lol. Wow they at least recycle ♻️ all that metal and sell it to America 🇺🇸

[@thejamescorwin]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 so true

[@mitchtherighteous]

Steel frames are terrible, half the energy required is to push the heavy frame. Ofo, Mobike, they're all crappy business models used to prop up China's declining manufacturing industry. China Uncensored did a bit on this stuff, pure trash.

[@mitchtherighteous]

China's trash bike service, even on the second iteration i'm promising you that no one made any money call it Motrash because that's all it becomes. What a bunch of dummies.

[@thejamescorwin]

@@mitchtherighteous I really wonder what the internal conversation was on that situation. It seems pretty likely that the city governments are the reason you can't park just anywhere anymore. I can't imagine they were too thrilled about the bike pools. I wonder why they don't just use docking stations. Fun Bike seems to be the only one that does that, and they have like 4 docking stations in the whole city.

[@mitchtherighteous]

@@thejamescorwin that's how these things work in most normal cities. I saw Ofo in Australia but they are probably gone by now. Yah early marketers got attached to the mobile device concept and now they really can't let go of it. I wonder if throwing them out isn't part of the model and manufacturers just run the show behind these companies that basically stimulate & simulate demand. Maybe local officials crack down but higher up they need to deal with major manufacturers. Just speculation though. It's a well known issue that china floods global markets with subsidized steel output, these bikes appear to contain alot of steel in the frames. Maybe it redirects the output internally.

[@mitchtherighteous]

@Umbrella Studio learn a bit more about the disruptions china's stupid covid lockdowns have created, they'll try escalating with Taiwan at a moment's notice, they don't have internal access to necessary manufacturing inputs it's not a stable manufacturing environment

[@victorsvideos27]

LoL, got my question “Why are so many millions of bikes abandoned?”…answered…Thank you!

[@kevmorris3000]

Thanks for the history of Bike Sharing in China. I kept seeing videos from 3 and 4 years ago. What is the situation now in 2022?

[@thejamescorwin]

Thanks for stumbling upon my channel! The 2022 situation is honestly much better than I thought it was going to be. They’ve figured out the bike form factor, and almost completely solved the issue of people stealing the bikes. They require you to park in designated areas and there’s generally a convenient place to park everywhere. The only annoyance they haven’t figured out is that since now you have to lock via the app, if you don’t have phone service when you want to lock the bike, you can’t lock it. And when you move to a place you have service, it takes the phone’s location, not the bike location and says you can’t park there. I found a hack though and I think it needs a new video 😁

[@andrewgibb8846]

I got an idea I think will work: We make unicycles and we’ll save 50% on manufacturing AND, we can have 10Billion on the streets in a month! It’s a can’t lose business model I can feel it!

[@stevennagley3407]

@@andrewgibb8846probably flood the hospitals with injuries, it’s not easy to learn and practical but imo be funny seeing groups and groups on unies

[@alfaeco15]

Instead of using GPS, scan a code on a pole placed at the authorized parking places to return it.

[@thejamescorwin]

You don’t scan a code to return the bike

[@alfaeco15]

@@thejamescorwin I mean, as solution to gps lack of precision, bike sharing companies could mark the allowed bike return locations with a QR code. The QR code would be placed on a board marking the location. No need to rely on the gps in the bike or in the mobile phone. In Denmark we also take a photo of the parked bike and upload it, as part of the process for returning the bike.

[@rosomak8244]

Or a code on a convenient printout you carry in your pocket.

[@thejamescorwin]

@@alfaeco15 What stops people from taking a photo of the QR code and sending an old photo?

[@alfaeco15]

@@thejamescorwin If someone do that, he provides proof of cheating, and eventually prevented from using the service. No system is fully safe against cheating, but you can make the process convenient enough for most people to want keep using the service... without abusing it.

[@shinnam]

Orderly Stockholm Sweden has had disastrous city bike share programs. Our fourth or fifth interation, an ebike that started having the front forks break off. Program was cancelled about a month after launch in May 2023. Dead bikes were scattered over the city like discarded McDonald's trash. Supposed to have a new bike share by August.

[@salmonoven]

Idk if life is fair enough where there many abandoned vehicles and bikes, and people who don't have simple transportation just like bicycle Here even if people have one, it's almost easily got stolen just for few hours

[@smichalpi]

why are they not recycling all those previous bikes?

[@deathrodamus9608]

They'll have to, in some point. Imagine how many tons of metal are in those.

[@stevelacroix2917]

The countries of Africa and India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and numerous other 3 world countries would die for this resource.

[@michaelscott761]

The concept is gold. It’s the selfish, rude, anti-social assholes who can NEVER EVER, follow the rules.

[@emptiester]

​@@michaelscott761didnt you watch the video? The bikes are junk and the services are a failure. Couple that with no pride of ownership and the plan wont work. Consumers arent going to conform, people act in their own interests, doesnt make us bad.

[@kummer45]

This is a great video. Thank you for posting it in KZbin. This needs more views.

[@carpballet]

Bird, lemon, etc. Same same with escooters. On the bright side, bike share kept lots of people working building trillions of shitty bikes.

[@ww07ff]

Would be great to have an updated after zero covid restrictions. Many tks, greetings from Brazil!

[@thejamescorwin]

Working on it!

[@ww07ff]

@@thejamescorwin 😃👏👏👏

[@pedtrog6443]

Good stuff🙂

[@SaccoBelmonte]

I guess having your own fancy bike is out of the question cause it will be stolen in no time?

[@thejamescorwin]

Nah, bikes rarely get stolen in China. It’s just less convenient if you only want to bike last mile or first mile or one way

[@SaccoBelmonte]

@@thejamescorwin I see.

[@FranklinNewhart]

I think investing in a bicycle tire company would be a good bet.

[@thejamescorwin]

You know, I'd have to say I agree. Although a metal company or a rubber company would probably be an even better value.

[@JoseMendozaLifeLearner]

cant you buy your own bike ?

[@dansw0rkshop]

Sure, but that isn't bike sharing. I think bike ownership is better, you take care of something you own. All of the bike's problems are yours to solve. Preventing theft seems like a much smaller problem than this bike sharing disaster.

[@JoseMendozaLifeLearner]

@@dansw0rkshop I agree, that is why I was asking. Because given a choice I rather own my own bike.

[@MrPhotodoc]

Old Chinese Proverb... "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth". Jeeze.

[@martinspinosa6035]

Great info.

[@TheUnclestein]

They could offer to sell them over here for £5 each inc postage!

[@thejamescorwin]

Honestly, best idea ever

[@alvatoredimarco]

Maybe the answer isn't bike-share *companies*. Maybe the answer is city-operated bike-share services. Or since bikes can be ridden between cities, services operated at the provincial government level.

[@thejamescorwin]

I think this is partially the answer. Cause then it would be funded like the subway and it would be great

[@noway8233]

Its a pump and dump stkem , they want to produce , the factories must produce metals , the want to sell

[@Simonsays7258]

Unregulated Capitalism run amok!

[@deathrodamus9608]

More like ill-managed business, low cost R&D, and poor long term vision.

[@nikolaizetrov617]

Just buy your own bike like a Brompton or alike, problem solved.

[@thejamescorwin]

Nah, cause sometimes you don’t have a place to store your bike when you arrive. Sometimes you only want to take a bike one way

[@OjStudios]

Brompton can be taken basically almost anywhere just as a luggage. In what kind of trip you'd only need one way trip with a bike?

[@candyluna2929]

I thought all chinese were born with a bike...right before the placenta

[@thejamescorwin]

You’re right, they are. The problem is the grow out of it by the time they reach adulthood and then they’re bikeless.

[@andrewweitzman4006]

There was a brief period when Montreal let one of those e-scooter companies put their machines on the street in designated parking spots. Ended right quick. We've stuck with the city run docking Bixi system.

[@thejamescorwin]

I was just in Montreal and used that Bixi system. Super convenient if you have a membership, a huge hassle if you’re taking one bike once. What do you think of it?

[@andrewweitzman4006]

@@thejamescorwin Pretty much the same, tbh. It is pretty typical of these docking bike systems...because Bixi is the basis for most of the others. They licensed out the technology to everyone and their dog.

[@DJ_POOP_IT_OUT_FEAT_LIL_WiiWii]

@@thejamescorwin it's stupid you can buy a bike for cheap

[@walterkersting9922]

Do you want to put your hands on those grips?

[@deathrodamus9608]

Or you could just wear gloves, but personally, I won't use any of these.

[@enesyigit8431]

How can i buy them

[@Ostsol]

Where does the funding for all this waste come from?

[@michaelkirwan177]

There is essentially no funding per se. The true investiture is the man hours of production at well below poverty scale wages while the government stockpiles the raw materials of the 'failed models' for future use as fuel for the military industrial & munitions complex. Just a ponzi scheme with the mineral assets hidden in plain sight. More sinister than clever which is why the Chinese economy is failing so dramatically. Just a cyclic reiteration of government corruption old school variety.

[@freds4703]

A regular guy telling it like it is.

[@elmen741]

Hey, I`ve not seen any bikes with fix mounted trailers. This is the true reason why tey failed. I will immediately go to China to start a bike with fix mounted 5cbm (5m³) trailer rental business. Of course no deposit, the first 1000 miles are free. I solved the parking area problem: In the 5cbm trailer are paper city plans. Make a cross where you want to park and send it via china post to our headquarter. We will answer within 48 hrs. Then you have the permission to park the bike. It will be great. Anyone here to support me with a few USD?

[@grimmstryke9627]

Maybe they should give them to russia so its troops are at least mobile lmao

[@misterfunnybones]

Great rant!

[@floeki-jekker]

Posted 2 years ago ? and so less reviews?

[@davidgold5961]

The obvious answer is to live in America and buy a nice used car with a V-8 engine. Problem solved.

[@davidmurphy9151]

Here is a video from a guy that needs a skateboard.

[@thejamescorwin]

I have an electric one…. It has its own problems. That’s a future video lol

[@digestiveissue7710]

I thought China was communist country

[@gengen5607]

china on his finest

[@yitezeng1035]

still, docked biked sharing should be the way to go

[@thejamescorwin]

Yeah, I agree with this more and more every day

[@mengniuhk5923]

docking is proven a failure. Just to solve the dock FULL scenario is doom not practical. So far the current shared bike has improved a lot.

[@mcmurdostation7134]

Actually the first Mobike model idea was awesome, make them with seat settings.

[@thejamescorwin]

It really was. I didn’t appreciate it at the time. It was MEGA heavy though. I think New York’s citibikes are pretty darn good

[@rumpelwurzwurst4308]

Bit of a weird rant. This could have stopped after after minute one and you talking about how you ride your 200kuai bike around the city. But then you complain about all these bike sharing companies while at the same time giving them business? And even moaning about not being able to find one at all time, while simultaneously lamenting the bike graveyards and huge numbers of bikes they're dropping on the streets. How about just not using them if you find them annoying?

[@thejamescorwin]

You make a good point, but the issue is bike share is essential. I want to support the business because it's an invaluable addition to the public transit network. I'm not going to ride my own bike across the city, but having one there waiting for me when I get off the subway is ideal. The problem is the competition causing excessive speed and waste. The problem of not being able to find one is because of their lack of attention to parking stations and where they need more bikes and where they need fewer bikes. I don't find the concept annoying, I find the management of the system annoying. It's frustrating that they finally worked all the kinks out and it was totally fine for a couple years, and now they're starting it up again. Competition can be a good thing, but when the companies have too much money to burn, it becomes a problem.

[@rumpelwurzwurst4308]

@@thejamescorwin I've used bike sharing in multiple countries and I bike wherever I go. From the user's perspective the Chinese situation is the best the world has ever seen. Doesn't get cheaper or more convenient than that, you only have to walk a few meters in any direction to stumble upon a bike. Enjoy it while it lasts, this isn't going to be a thing forever.

[@maykolee]

自行車大躍進😂😂😂

[@MrsPillows]

😂😂😂😂😂😂 i thought china was a slightly more organised and efficient country... turns out to be the opposite ?

[@tepuitorupop3213]

A bolt cutter should do the trick😊

[@thejamescorwin]

You know, I said the same thing. I came SO close to pulling the trigger on that one.

[@walhdamaskus2408]

Chinese bsharing disaster dont kill like the american gun disaster. 😂

[@grantjohnston6152]

This video should is about 16 minutes too long

[@thejamescorwin]

Hey can you do me a favor? You’re right. This was one of my first videos on this channel and I feel like I’ve improved my pacing a lot. Would you watch one of my more recent videos and see what you think?

[@stevelacroix2917]

You have detrail the problem ad nauseum, how much time have you spent working on a solution?