We are based in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. There are currently (October 2013) lots of new buildings, full of apartments, going up all around us in the neighborhood, downtown, in many of the closer to downtown neighborhoods of the city. Density is going up. Which may have many and sundry follow-on effects, for better or for worse. I'd like to focus on one here, that density will lead to new businesses and new business models.
We deliver all over the city, but keeping deliveries close makes them easier, faster, and gives us more flexibility to schedule them close together. The more people live in dense neighborhoods, and we are located near those people, the more we benefit from these effects. Simply as a matter of statistics, the mean distance between us and the customer is closer. This effect goes away if we are not co-located with the density (e.g. if we were out in the suburbs).
But that's just for our peculiar model. What else does one expect with higher density? Following the NYC example you'd expect smaller apartments and more restaurants per capita. But that may be a cultural effect, because it is still fairly easy to prepare a meal even in a small kitchen. The ubiquitous food delivery by bicycle. The obvious businesses all likely increase but not in a per capita sense -- more supermarkets, dry cleaners, etc. but not relatively more.
Perhaps I'm thinking too provincially. What about Hong Kong or Singapore. Well there's this handy guide to building density from the government of Singapore. http://www.uli.org/press-release/10-principles-singapore/. Many of the points there are basic governance -- such as city planning for density with green space -- but some of them strike me as actionable for the private sector.
For a more systematic look at general economic effects of density, there is a great report from the British Property Federation. To some extent this report details what economists and historians have understood the basic roles of cities, even civilization to be: Economic specialization (e.g. electrician and plumber and roofer instead of all-purpose builder), person-to-person knowledge transfer, larger market of consumers, larger labor market, more competitive business atmosphere. Each of these gives a list of new opportunities. Just consider specialization -- our business is a version of this, specializing in the long-timescale portion of an existing market in bike rentals.
This is where my imagination fails me, but my aim is not to produce a list of high-density business ideas, rather just to make the simple point that underneath all of the cranes and beside the trucks full of debris, there is a world of opportunity in density.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
San Juans renter profile
To give an idea of the kinds of trips that PedalAnywhere makes possible in the San Juan islands, Mikial put together a description of one customers's trip:
The renters are a couple living in Seattle, walking distance from the waterfront. They walked from home with a small backpack and a loaded set of panniers to Elliot Bay where they boarded The Victoria clipper to Friday Harbor. Walking another 4 blocks to rent their hybrid bikes from Pedal Anywhere San Juans, they loaded them up with help from Mikial and were on the road within an hour of getting off the ferry.
They found PedalAnywhere San Juans to be a very affordable and convenient way to explore the Salish sea Archipelago. The weather was perfect, traffic light, and the scenery refreshing.
They toured for 6 days and got to experience most of the natural/cultural attractions that the San Juans have to offer on island time w/ lots of fun and friendly locals, and of course other tourists. They hiked forested trails, swam in pristine lakes, and found some secluded nooks to sunbathe. Friday, September 13, 2013
San Juans lessons and observations
We've got a bit over two months of experience operating in the San Juan islands, Friday Harbor, WA (www.pedalanywhere.com/sanjuans) now, thought I would put together our thoughts on the process. The San Juans are a different beast from Seattle and it has been a learning process that's still on-going. A few differences:
1) Most folks want a rack on the bike in the San Juans. Here I show my biases -- I'm a city rider with minimal gear on my bike to keep weight down and because every time I put something on it gets stolen. Just carry a messenger bag and have gotten very adept at riding up hills with a load on my back. So to me a rack is just extra weight. But I'm in the minority, and in the rural touring situation a backpack just won't cut it. Sometimes my instincts of what folks want work out (people do in fact want long term bike rentals, all over the place, and they don't want to keep bringing their bikes on the plane) and sometimes I'm in the minority. But the markets speaks and we listen.
2) Repair kits are essential here. In Seattle I ride without any repair gear for daily riding, and know that I can always find a nearby bike shop if something goes wrong... or take the bus. In the San Juans there is no such luck, a flat can be trouble and even though Mikial manages to get out to help you in less than 30 minutes (still impressed, that's actually really fast) you're still stuck for a bit.
3) Most rentals in the San Juans are out of our shop, whereas in Seattle we don't have a physical shop and only do delivery. This changes the economics a bit and means that our costs are not dominated by delivery; which alters a few things, but makes rentals shorter than a week economically viable for us. We also get lots of weekenders looking for rentals shorter than a week. So we decided to add two and three day rentals -- which would start to be a logistical headache in seattle with our free dropoff and pickup -- because it made sense. Again, the market spoke and we listened.
And some interesting observations so far, not really actionable, but not obvious when we first started:
1) The majority of renters don't have a car. They've taken the ferry directly from Seattle or taken a shuttle to the Anacortes ferry, walk four blocks off the ferry in Friday Harbor, get their bikes, load up, and head off. These are exactly the customers we envisioned, the ones we want to serve, the kinds of trip we want to enable (what would that have looked like without PedalAnywhere? Boxed bike on the plane, unbox in the airport, stick it on the front of a 2 hour bus ride to Anacortes? Way harder and more expensive). Terrific that we're making this a reality.
2) Few renters traveling on their own. In Seattle we're split between couples and individual renters.
3) Talking with folks we learn that our main competition is airlines and bike boxes, not really other rental shops. Have heard a few people literally point out that they have boxed bikes on previous trips, but didn't have to this time because of PedalAnywhere. Awesome, and maybe even the cargo loaders will be happy to have fewer bikes to deal with eventually?
1) Most folks want a rack on the bike in the San Juans. Here I show my biases -- I'm a city rider with minimal gear on my bike to keep weight down and because every time I put something on it gets stolen. Just carry a messenger bag and have gotten very adept at riding up hills with a load on my back. So to me a rack is just extra weight. But I'm in the minority, and in the rural touring situation a backpack just won't cut it. Sometimes my instincts of what folks want work out (people do in fact want long term bike rentals, all over the place, and they don't want to keep bringing their bikes on the plane) and sometimes I'm in the minority. But the markets speaks and we listen.
2) Repair kits are essential here. In Seattle I ride without any repair gear for daily riding, and know that I can always find a nearby bike shop if something goes wrong... or take the bus. In the San Juans there is no such luck, a flat can be trouble and even though Mikial manages to get out to help you in less than 30 minutes (still impressed, that's actually really fast) you're still stuck for a bit.
3) Most rentals in the San Juans are out of our shop, whereas in Seattle we don't have a physical shop and only do delivery. This changes the economics a bit and means that our costs are not dominated by delivery; which alters a few things, but makes rentals shorter than a week economically viable for us. We also get lots of weekenders looking for rentals shorter than a week. So we decided to add two and three day rentals -- which would start to be a logistical headache in seattle with our free dropoff and pickup -- because it made sense. Again, the market spoke and we listened.
And some interesting observations so far, not really actionable, but not obvious when we first started:
1) The majority of renters don't have a car. They've taken the ferry directly from Seattle or taken a shuttle to the Anacortes ferry, walk four blocks off the ferry in Friday Harbor, get their bikes, load up, and head off. These are exactly the customers we envisioned, the ones we want to serve, the kinds of trip we want to enable (what would that have looked like without PedalAnywhere? Boxed bike on the plane, unbox in the airport, stick it on the front of a 2 hour bus ride to Anacortes? Way harder and more expensive). Terrific that we're making this a reality.
2) Few renters traveling on their own. In Seattle we're split between couples and individual renters.
3) Talking with folks we learn that our main competition is airlines and bike boxes, not really other rental shops. Have heard a few people literally point out that they have boxed bikes on previous trips, but didn't have to this time because of PedalAnywhere. Awesome, and maybe even the cargo loaders will be happy to have fewer bikes to deal with eventually?
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
PedalAnywhere is now in the San Juan Islands!
PedalAnywhere: Easy and Affordable Weekly Bike Rentals in the San Juans
Seattle and Friday Harbor, WA.
PedalAnywhere is launching on Monday July 1 in Friday Harbor, WA, offering online reservations for weekly and monthly bike rentals, with pricing starting at only $115 per week. PedalAnywhere will be offering hybrid and vintage road bike rentals, and can deliver your bikes directly to your door! PedalAnywhere has been making long-term bike rentals possible in Seattle since early 2012, and is now expanding for the first time to the San Juan Islands.
PedalAnywhere offers convenient online booking for exactly the bike(s) you want, just like with a rental car, at www.pedalanywhere.com/sanjuans. We have partnered with local bike shop Travel Light Cycles to bring you our service. Customers can pick up their bikes directly in our store, in the Surina Business Park at 50 Malcolm Street, or order delivery direct to your door -- in the town of Friday harbor -- for a $20 fee. All bikes come with a helmet and a lock, and are freshly tuned and inspected prior to each rental.
Our prices make long-term bike rental an attractive option for visitors, and locals, to the San Juan islands. PedalAnywhere offers pricing a bit different from other bike shops. We rent by the week or month, and we focus on bringing you bikes as a means of transportation and everyday fun, not just as a one-day activity.
We think that the San Juan islands operate at a slower pace, and they remind many of us of the kind of idyllic balance between man and nature, farm and forest, that is so hard to find in other parts of the U.S. Driving around in a car, you’ll miss coming face-to-face with a sheep or a fox just a few feet away, and we’d like to help more people experience the islands in a more direct way -- on a bike. Of course, biking is also good for your health, and biking is better for the world’s health. But in the end we bike because its fun, and we hope you will want to join us.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Left Turns
Let's talk a bit about left turns (this conversation assumes drive-on-the-right traffic flow). On two-way streets. Across traffic. They are undeniably dangerous. How to treat them? I think they should be broken in to four categories:
1) one lane of traffic in each direction, slow moving cars (<25 mph), not a high traffic density
2) one lane of traffic in each direction, faster cars and higher traffic density
3) two lanes of traffic (or more? how are you even biking on this street?) in each direction
4) two lanes of traffic in each direction, high traffic density
I would say that only in case (1) should you turn left at a green light across traffic without hesitation. That is to say, you'd turn left as if you were driving a car. I do this many times every day. If a car is oncoming I make sure they are also turning left before proceeding.
In all of the other cases, I don't do what I would in a car, I do what I would if I were a pedestrian. I go across the green light, going straight, as if I were not going to turn left. Then I stop at the corner or hop up on the sidewalk *slowly*, watching out for bikes and ped(estrians)s. (That's a nice word, estrian if it were a word, which it seems not to be). Then I look left and wait for that light to turn green and proceed on the street with traffic or slowly through the painted lines in the crosswalk, and proceed on my way. Hey Presto! A left turn.
What is the alternative in cases 2-4? It is to merge left into the fast moving traffic, signalling with an outstretched arm, and then turn left at the green light while moving at speed. This can work very elegantly, but it is not tolerant to error. That is to say, if you should have to slow down rapidly, if the traffic is moving to fast for you to find a break, if you should fall, if a driver (now on your right) should not notice you and merge left you are in serious trouble. And this method is barely faster than the stop and turn method in the previous paragraph.
What's my point? My point is that I see too many people doing the left turn across traffic at a green light in situations 2-4. I've done it myself. But I wish our standards of behavior were a bit different, and I wish infrastructure would support the stop and turn method. This would mean a "hop up on the curb and turn left" set of ramps on corners, or a simple, painted hook left turn system of paint like this:
http://www.theurbancountry.com/2010/11/safe-left-turns-for-bicycles.html.
Has there been discussion of such a system for left turns in Seattle? I'm not aware of it, but am probably missing it.
1) one lane of traffic in each direction, slow moving cars (<25 mph), not a high traffic density
2) one lane of traffic in each direction, faster cars and higher traffic density
3) two lanes of traffic (or more? how are you even biking on this street?) in each direction
4) two lanes of traffic in each direction, high traffic density
I would say that only in case (1) should you turn left at a green light across traffic without hesitation. That is to say, you'd turn left as if you were driving a car. I do this many times every day. If a car is oncoming I make sure they are also turning left before proceeding.
In all of the other cases, I don't do what I would in a car, I do what I would if I were a pedestrian. I go across the green light, going straight, as if I were not going to turn left. Then I stop at the corner or hop up on the sidewalk *slowly*, watching out for bikes and ped(estrians)s. (That's a nice word, estrian if it were a word, which it seems not to be). Then I look left and wait for that light to turn green and proceed on the street with traffic or slowly through the painted lines in the crosswalk, and proceed on my way. Hey Presto! A left turn.
What is the alternative in cases 2-4? It is to merge left into the fast moving traffic, signalling with an outstretched arm, and then turn left at the green light while moving at speed. This can work very elegantly, but it is not tolerant to error. That is to say, if you should have to slow down rapidly, if the traffic is moving to fast for you to find a break, if you should fall, if a driver (now on your right) should not notice you and merge left you are in serious trouble. And this method is barely faster than the stop and turn method in the previous paragraph.
What's my point? My point is that I see too many people doing the left turn across traffic at a green light in situations 2-4. I've done it myself. But I wish our standards of behavior were a bit different, and I wish infrastructure would support the stop and turn method. This would mean a "hop up on the curb and turn left" set of ramps on corners, or a simple, painted hook left turn system of paint like this:
http://www.theurbancountry.com/2010/11/safe-left-turns-for-bicycles.html.
Has there been discussion of such a system for left turns in Seattle? I'm not aware of it, but am probably missing it.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Case Study: Anacortes and the San Juans (WA state)
First case study close to home, and in a market we're considering serving soon.
Start with Anacortes, where you catch the ferry for the islands. Visitors might rent bikes here and bring them on the ferry, or rent them on the islands directly.
These folks in Mt Vernon have got it right, doing $40 per day, $75 for 3 days to 1 week and offering pickup and delivery. Only downsides are they aren't located in Anacortes near the ferry and they only operate may through september. But this market may be more highly seasonal than Seattle. They are renting comfort bikes, Treks it looks like, which will make many people happy except for bikers, but these are an excellent choice to suit a wide variety of people.
http://www.countrycycling.com/Bike%20Rentals.html
In Anacortes Skagit bike center keeps coming up but I can't find any rentals on their site and the direct link to the rentals gives a "not found". But part of the site is working, tough to figure out what's up here:
http://skagitcyclecenter.com/articles/bike-rental-reservation-form-pg479.htm
The day is $40/$60 and the week is $160/$240 for a good/better bike. Their "better" bike is around $600, so that would be competitive to what SMBR offers. They charge 3x more than we do for that bike, an extra $160 per week.
In Friday Harbor we've got Island Cycles at $175 per week for a hybrid similar to the SMBR offer, $40 per day. They are also offering mid-range and higher-end road bikes and correspondingly higher prices.
Lopez Island is a terrific place to bike, and seems to get more than its fair share of bike tourists judging by my one summer visit there. There, Lopez Bicycle Works is doing $30 per day, $130 per week rentals. This is getting closer to what SMBR would offer, and these prices seem accessible enough that they likely get their share of longer term renters. Village Cycles, which is apparently for sale, is doing the same rates. Lopez is a rarely competitive and relatively well-priced area for bike rentals.
On Orcas we've got Wildlife Cycles at $35 per day and $115 per week. Again, the prices here are surprisingly good. More demand equals lower prices?
That covers it, daily rentals at $35-$60 and weekly at $115 - $240. Anacortes for some reason is a bit less competitive than some of the islands, but a detour to Mt. Vernon could be worth it for the budget-minded. Getting closer to big European city pricing here, but none of these are competitive by international standards.
Start with Anacortes, where you catch the ferry for the islands. Visitors might rent bikes here and bring them on the ferry, or rent them on the islands directly.
These folks in Mt Vernon have got it right, doing $40 per day, $75 for 3 days to 1 week and offering pickup and delivery. Only downsides are they aren't located in Anacortes near the ferry and they only operate may through september. But this market may be more highly seasonal than Seattle. They are renting comfort bikes, Treks it looks like, which will make many people happy except for bikers, but these are an excellent choice to suit a wide variety of people.
http://www.countrycycling.com/Bike%20Rentals.html
In Anacortes Skagit bike center keeps coming up but I can't find any rentals on their site and the direct link to the rentals gives a "not found". But part of the site is working, tough to figure out what's up here:
http://skagitcyclecenter.com/articles/bike-rental-reservation-form-pg479.htm
The day is $40/$60 and the week is $160/$240 for a good/better bike. Their "better" bike is around $600, so that would be competitive to what SMBR offers. They charge 3x more than we do for that bike, an extra $160 per week.
In Friday Harbor we've got Island Cycles at $175 per week for a hybrid similar to the SMBR offer, $40 per day. They are also offering mid-range and higher-end road bikes and correspondingly higher prices.
Lopez Island is a terrific place to bike, and seems to get more than its fair share of bike tourists judging by my one summer visit there. There, Lopez Bicycle Works is doing $30 per day, $130 per week rentals. This is getting closer to what SMBR would offer, and these prices seem accessible enough that they likely get their share of longer term renters. Village Cycles, which is apparently for sale, is doing the same rates. Lopez is a rarely competitive and relatively well-priced area for bike rentals.
On Orcas we've got Wildlife Cycles at $35 per day and $115 per week. Again, the prices here are surprisingly good. More demand equals lower prices?
That covers it, daily rentals at $35-$60 and weekly at $115 - $240. Anacortes for some reason is a bit less competitive than some of the islands, but a detour to Mt. Vernon could be worth it for the budget-minded. Getting closer to big European city pricing here, but none of these are competitive by international standards.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Case Study: Paris
Paris is famous for its city-sponsored bike-share program, Velib. Prices are $2.20 for a day-use pass and $10 for a weekly pass that allows unlimited rides of 30 minutes or less. Additional half hours are $1.30. This is a completely different range of prices from standard bike rental, even by Copenhagen standards. Even if your ride each way every day takes an hour (or, say, 40 minutes, which is quite plausible) you're still looking at a mere $17.50 in overage charge and $10 base charge, or $27.50 for a week of bike commuting both ways. This is super cheap by any standard.
For those who are not familiar with bike-share, this is a terrific system for casual biking and tourism but it is not for everyone. In particular the bikes are typically heavy, they are not a standard hybrid bike with many gears, so they offer a lesser biking experience and are only comfortable for shorter rides. The system also requires that you drop off the bike at another bike share station -- if you are staying at a hotel and your work destination does not have a share station nearby, this makes bike share close to useless. So depends on your particular destination. Bike share is fundamentally a different product from standard daily or long-term bike rental, and it is terrific for casual sight-seeing and short commuter rides where share stations are close by. For longer rides or most commutes it is not very practical.
Two other important notes of a more practical bent. Velib is subsidized by advertising and a slight public subsidy-- it is more like a subway or bus or other public transportation than it is like car rental or standard daily bike rental. (The public subsidy issue here is complex and debatable -- short version bikes get broken and stole and the city has to pay to replace them). Also, with Velib the bikes are not guaranteed to be present, or working (a backwards seat indicates a broken bike) at every station. So your travel plans might be disturbed, especially on a nice day, when you don't find a bike present. Not a problem for casual sightseeing, otherwise its an issue. The NY Times story on this is illuminating: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/world/europe/13paris.html?pagewanted=all
The most prominent standard bike rental is fat tire bike rentals, at 25 euros per day 100 per week -- $32 per day and $130 per week. The bikes are not hybrids, but beach cruiser style bikes, these are not a great option for getting around by bike over longer distances, great and fun (although not my first choice) for cruising around and tourism.
Looks like other shops are renting more standard hybrid bikes with more gears and better (lighter) frames from 15 euros per day, or about $20. After lots of digging you can find an example online, maybe their SEO doesn't work for english? An example would be:
http://www.parisvelosympa.com
Which is charging 20 euros per day + 10 each extra day -- that's $26 plus $13 extra per day, putting a week at $104. They are renting city bikes and basic mountain bikes, that look much more comfortable and easy to ride than the Velib offers. None of these shops is offering an online reservation system, although it seems they have enough capacity to ensure rentals most times.
For those who are not familiar with bike-share, this is a terrific system for casual biking and tourism but it is not for everyone. In particular the bikes are typically heavy, they are not a standard hybrid bike with many gears, so they offer a lesser biking experience and are only comfortable for shorter rides. The system also requires that you drop off the bike at another bike share station -- if you are staying at a hotel and your work destination does not have a share station nearby, this makes bike share close to useless. So depends on your particular destination. Bike share is fundamentally a different product from standard daily or long-term bike rental, and it is terrific for casual sight-seeing and short commuter rides where share stations are close by. For longer rides or most commutes it is not very practical.
Two other important notes of a more practical bent. Velib is subsidized by advertising and a slight public subsidy-- it is more like a subway or bus or other public transportation than it is like car rental or standard daily bike rental. (The public subsidy issue here is complex and debatable -- short version bikes get broken and stole and the city has to pay to replace them). Also, with Velib the bikes are not guaranteed to be present, or working (a backwards seat indicates a broken bike) at every station. So your travel plans might be disturbed, especially on a nice day, when you don't find a bike present. Not a problem for casual sightseeing, otherwise its an issue. The NY Times story on this is illuminating: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/world/europe/13paris.html?pagewanted=all
The most prominent standard bike rental is fat tire bike rentals, at 25 euros per day 100 per week -- $32 per day and $130 per week. The bikes are not hybrids, but beach cruiser style bikes, these are not a great option for getting around by bike over longer distances, great and fun (although not my first choice) for cruising around and tourism.
Looks like other shops are renting more standard hybrid bikes with more gears and better (lighter) frames from 15 euros per day, or about $20. After lots of digging you can find an example online, maybe their SEO doesn't work for english? An example would be:
http://www.parisvelosympa.com
Which is charging 20 euros per day + 10 each extra day -- that's $26 plus $13 extra per day, putting a week at $104. They are renting city bikes and basic mountain bikes, that look much more comfortable and easy to ride than the Velib offers. None of these shops is offering an online reservation system, although it seems they have enough capacity to ensure rentals most times.
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