Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Get your hands out of my wallet
- This topic has 12 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 6 months ago by redblack.
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September 17, 2016 at 7:37 am #858008
ernieusafretParticipantBikeshare bailout
Time to get rid of some of the city council.
Let business run business, and keep the city out of it.
Don’t they have better things to do?(rhetorical)
we don’t need another 5 mil down the terlet.September 17, 2016 at 12:28 pm #858024
JayDeeParticipantSeptember 17, 2016 at 12:30 pm #858025
JayDeeParticipantBike sharing is a great idea in some cities but not here because it failed. The City of Seattle purchased the failing “Pronto” system including all the docking stations for $1.4MM. In addition, ridership (during summer no less) is down so the system will lose $400,000 more this year. Now a Quebec-based company Bewegen won a contract to run a bike share system one that uses electric-assist bikes (Who would have thought of that?) which renders all of our 500 lime green mechanical Pronto bikes obsolete, along with their docking stations. So a $2MM Nanny state feel-good loss of taxpayer money. Way to go Mayor Murray and go-along council members. At least our local council rep (Herbold) was against it.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by JayDee.
September 17, 2016 at 1:17 pm #858036
anonymeParticipantI find myself agreeing with the Republican running for State Auditor who was quoted as saying that “Seattle needs some adult supervision”. The millions that have been squandered on dimwitted programs like this (and others) could have been spent adding much needed police, for a start. I’m pleased that Lisa Herbold is making some intelligent choices, but can’t say the same for the rest of the Council.
September 17, 2016 at 3:46 pm #858045
TanDLParticipantI am almost speechless at the corruption, arrogance and incompetence of the current City administration. I have never seen anything like it. They need more than just adult supervision. They need to lose their jobs… and fast, before the neighborhoods with their sense of community have vanished, traffic comes to a complete standstill, unsolved crime runs even more rampant and the tax dollars we graciously give to them are 100% squandered.
September 17, 2016 at 5:04 pm #858047
ernieusafretParticipantTime to vote these idiots out, starting at the top.
I don’t mind paying for something we need, but not for something that is a money pit.September 17, 2016 at 5:58 pm #858049
Michael WaldoParticipantIf you like to bike, you already own one. If you are a tourist, are you going to want to bike downtown? Or up our hills? In the rain? Now, sweep aside millions spent on bikes and buy electric bikes. Why? For who? We need to get rid of the transportation department head. He never worked on transportation anywhere before he came to Seattle. All he knows is Pronto bikes. That is who he worked for before coming here. His inexperience shows. There are only 1 % of Seattle residents who bike every day and yet he bases his entire transportation plan for bike riders. Main streets at 25 mph? Insane.
September 18, 2016 at 7:22 am #858126
TanDLParticipantFrom this morning’s Seattle Times:
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-gets-zapped-again-in-bike-share-boondoggle/
September 18, 2016 at 7:56 am #858127
dhgParticipantThe City has no business being in the biking business. Anyone who thinks bike rental is a great business and wants to take it on should be encouraged but should also pay licensing fees. That should be the extent of the City’s involvement: making money on the license fees.
September 18, 2016 at 8:53 am #858130
JTBParticipantIt’s worth noting that Lisa Herbold warned against acquiring Pronto on several counts. Too bad the rest of the City Council didn’t stop to think about it.
One of her points concerned waiting to see if Pronto actually failed and then buying the assets at a better price if the City still wanted them.
I think it would be interesting to review the discussion that took place at that time and see if there were any connections between City personnel and Pronto that might have influenced a rush to reduce Pronto’s loss by the early buy-out. If so, that opens up an obvious course for some house cleaning. Or does the City Council consider the reduced fine ($5000) paid for his ethics violation for participating in the Pronto decision without requesting a waiver.
(Kubly was a former President in the iteration of the company that became Pronto. Even without an identifiable financial interest, the personal connections with key players in Pronto is obvious).Addendum. Since making the above comments, I’ve done some research, including a review of the video recording of the March 14 City Council meeting. There wasn’t anything that indicated a particular concern about the well-being of Pronto or its people although if such a concern existed on the part of any council member it wouldn’t necessarily or even very likely been made clear. What was clear is the the “optimism bias” that Burgess identified was very much in evidence over the denials of other council members.
This entire episode reminds me of the kind of situation I’ve seen in business in the private sector repeatedly (said in respect to those who tout the magnificent efficiency of the private sector). An executive at a high level gets a bright idea and lower level execs and managers are quick to figure out how to line up in support much more readily than suggesting, “ok, let’s do some rigorous analysis and see if this really is a bright idea; if we find it so, then we can start working on how to do it.” Careers have been stalled for those who hold out for circumspection while very few have been wrecked for supporting a superior’s lame idea.One of the things I appreciate about Lisa Herbold is that she seems to have a genuine interest in and faculty for dealing with the nuts and bolts of policy. On the Pronto matter and the alley vacation, she demonstrated a willingness to dig into the practical considerations and implications of the proposals and identify the potential (or even likely) down side than the “bright idea” folks recognized or were willing to acknowledge.
September 19, 2016 at 8:08 am #858208
skeeterParticipantIt’s pretty common for taxpayers to subsidize transportation. Look at Amtrak. Or King County Metro. Or Sound Transit. The collected fares only pay a portion of operating costs. The remaining costs are paid with tax dollars. I’m not saying subsidizing bike rentals are a good use of tax dollars. Or a bad use. Honestly I don’t know. But I’m not convinced that every transportation subsidy is bad.
Of course the biggest transportation subsidy is personal cars. Cars pay only a tiny bit of tax (licensing and fuel taxes) yet the city (and county and state) spend far more on building/maintaining/repairing/policing roads than all other transportation dollars combined.
September 19, 2016 at 8:20 am #858209
newnativeParticipantAs someone who bought a year’s worth of Pronto membership, I hope they stay afloat until at least next year. The main problem for its practical use is that it’s expensive for tourists (daily use is close to the monthly use) and there aren’t docks much beyond the downtown core. If there were docks on Alki or in the Junction, I could commute to work. Now, it’s just for fun or to supplement my water taxi commute when the Viaduct closes.
September 22, 2016 at 5:27 pm #858538
redblackParticipantcity-owned bike rental is not a bad idea, but pronto is definitely located in the worst conceivable area. a good bike share program in seattle would be located near bike highways and connect neighborhoods like ballard/fremont/U district. the best places for cycling hubs would be interbay and west marginal, or some other place near busses and interurban trails.
downtown? no way. people don’t walk or drive sensibly there, and there are way too many of them. you gotta be brave, defensive, hyper-aware, and in pretty good shape to ride a bike in downtown seattle.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by redblack.
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