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Incentivize cycling in the city?
Personally, I ride my bike for fun and exercise, so don't need a reward system.
But I suppose there are a few weekend bikers that would like this.
A better incentive would be for the city to make cycling safer: fix potholes in bike lanes, publicly shame and heavily fine careless drivers (run lights & stop signs, use cell phones driving, etc), publicly shame & heavily fine cyclists who ALSO break the law (since that perpetuates the cycle of hate, in my opinion; I personally think social mobs of cyclists, like Critical Mass, do more harm than good, but perhaps that's a topic for another thread...), and overall treat cyclists with respect and as equal citizens (since, yes, they do pay taxes which go into the roads they are using YET are doing far less damage).
Unfortunately, the tirade above is really for the city leadership & police, not a private app developer or entrepreneur.. <sigh> As it is, I don't think I would benefit from this type of incentive - I mostly bike for fun & exercise too and can really only bike commute 2x's per week due to other commitments.
Maybe another entrepreneurial idea would be for a biking shuttle service that takes people who live further away thru long patches of highway, then drops them off and speeds off to pick up more. If they are clever with the routes, they could (theoretically) get close enough that the rest of the biking is fine, smooth & whips past traffic, but not too close that the shuttle itself get stuck in traffic. I would envision a large van or small bus that operates like a hotel or rental car shuttle service, looping between a point(s) in the suburbs, then towards the city before it gets too busy, drops everyone off, then speeds back to the same point. Same thing on the way home. This might make bike commuting more attractive to those who live out in Abbotsford or Surrey and might not have the time or fitness to bike that sort of distance.
If one of you takes this idea & runs with it, go ahead - make it happen! (I don't live in Vancouver anyway)
Unfortunately, the tirade above is really for the city leadership & police, not a private app developer or entrepreneur.. <sigh> As it is, I don't think I would benefit from this type of incentive - I mostly bike for fun & exercise too and can really only bike commute 2x's per week due to other commitments.
Maybe another entrepreneurial idea would be for a biking shuttle service that takes people who live further away thru long patches of highway, then drops them off and speeds off to pick up more. If they are clever with the routes, they could (theoretically) get close enough that the rest of the biking is fine, smooth & whips past traffic, but not too close that the shuttle itself get stuck in traffic. I would envision a large van or small bus that operates like a hotel or rental car shuttle service, looping between a point(s) in the suburbs, then towards the city before it gets too busy, drops everyone off, then speeds back to the same point. Same thing on the way home. This might make bike commuting more attractive to those who live out in Abbotsford or Surrey and might not have the time or fitness to bike that sort of distance.
If one of you takes this idea & runs with it, go ahead - make it happen! (I don't live in Vancouver anyway)
