I fear that site selection for stations is based on great locations for “advertising” but some sites are less than perfect locations for bike stations.

Tae is the best Public Relations person that #CityCycle has never had.

She is both passionate and tragic.

Her criticisms are measured, well considered and valid.

regards,

Rowan

Post Script: the Courier-mail is so passe, I hope that Tae will be writing for the Drum.

Maybe my writing isn’t as clear as I would have hoped, but I am a huge supporter of CityCycle. I am constantly promoting it. I do temper my positiveness to highlight some difficulties that I experience. As a medium to high user (averaging one trip a day) I, perhaps incorrectly, feel that my anecdotal experiences on the system reflect other’s positives and negatives. Given the amount of traffic my blog sees for my pieces on CityCycle, I continue to update it with how things are progressing.

The saddle/seat being backwards isn’t a problem – I know how to turn it around. It is what the reversed seat communicates or is failing to – that there is a problem with the bike. Perhaps that wasn’t clear in that paragraph. I have reported a heap of faulty bikes to JCD, I don’t call to complain about rubbish, I take it with me and put it in a bin. I really dislike picking out people’s half eaten burger, candy wrapper, slurpee cup or bottles – I imagine others do too, and possibly the idea that the bikes are webbed, covered in bird poop and have baskets filled with refuse would put people off. When there is an issue that I have experienced which I think could impact other users negatively – I call or email, like the problems with their app, or stations daily running out of bikes.

I desperately want it to succeed and find myself defending the issues and complaints at least once a week when I turn up somewhere with my CityCycle helmet and meet an anti-CityCycle individual. 4 months on, we need to have regularly occurring issues addressed and factors that put people off the system fixed.

I have no interest in working in Journalism. I am not a journalist, nor do I consider myself to be. If I was trying to be one, you think I could be reviewing Vampire Diaries and rating things in a Panda scale?

Das Panda

Oh, no, the saddle is on backwards, what will I do!!! Oh there is some rubbish in the basket, I can’t ride 100m to a bin an dump it there, I think I’ll call and complain.

Its this kind of pettiness that stretches citycyle resources away from core activities. And people like you that trample the tiny goodwill the service has generated in the last three months.

Your a drain on the charity of this government sponsored gift. Wake up and smell some community spirit.

I hope this looks good on your resume for a journalist job at the Courier Mail.

JP