During the MainX24 event, I noticed this scene on the side of the road. In the background, you see the Chattanooga Choo Choo. On the right, there was a display of a new bicycle system for downtown Chattanooga. You paid a $75 annual membership for use of the bikes. Rides up to 60 minutes are free, but $5 per hour after that. I think it is geared more toward tourists than anything (especially since the first site installed was in front of a hotel)... but I digress...
The guy on the left was what caught my attention. With a fancy hotel behind, new bikes with computerized docking station in front of him, and teeming hordes of people walking through the neighborhood, this man decided that it was time for rest. Using the bushes as a chair, he propped his $20 bike (if that much) up and took a snooze.
It struck me that the owners of the biking system were getting people to pay usage fees on something that low-income people have known for a long time. If you just took the $75 and put it toward your own two-wheeler, you could have one to ride whenever you wanted... WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY EXTRA FEES!
I may be making much ado about nothing, especially since this seems to be geared toward tourists. But my friends and I are not tourists. It was pitched to us as a new form of public transportation. Just seems like a tax on people who can't do math to me...
