Bikes for people not interested in cycling

[SkipdiverJohn]

For a year or so my flattish, dryish Fine City had a dockless bike scheme. The bikes were well equipped utility models with 3 speed hub gears, hub brakes, dynamo lighting, a front basket or rack, mudguards, solid tyres. They were popular with many young "non cyclists" including teenage girls.

They obviously weren't that popular, or the scheme created other problems (like nuisance dumping of bikes all over the place), otherwise you wouldn't be talking about the scheme in the past tense.
The only "benefit" I see to dockless schemes is the opportunity they give to to the local yobs to vandalise them and ride around on stolen ones when they have broken off the locking mechanisms. Those schemes only exist because of an abundance of cheap money looking for something to invest in. The only scheme I can see actually surviving long term is the Boris Bike one, because they try to make the bikes available where they are wanted, and they aren't just randomly abandoned in waterways and people's front gardens.

 

[DRM]

Seen this?

Ditch cars to meet climate change targets, say MPs https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49425402

There was a piece on BBC Local news for Leeds that was about extending Leeds/Bradford airport, they went on to say that if Leeds Was to meet it’s co2 limits and they included the airport in the allowance, no one could drive anything anywhere