One of my favorite expressions of disgust is "The only time I wouldn't piss on him is if he was on fire."
Well, the world is on fire and the only time I wouldn't piss on @Uber's Jump dockless ebikes is in a pandemic, when bicycle transport has never been more essential.
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Well, the world is on fire and the only time I wouldn't piss on @Uber's Jump dockless ebikes is in a pandemic, when bicycle transport has never been more essential.
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Uber - and other dockless transport companies like @BirdRide - unilaterally filled our cities' streets with ewaste litter - unsafe electric vehicles that endangered their riders and pedestrians in use, and blocked sidewalks for wheelchair users the rest of the time.
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These companies compounded their misdeeds by refusing to help track down customers who had hit-and-run pedestrians, even when their customers' victims were critically injured.
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(and, of course, Bird threatened to sue me for explaining how you could buy their abandoned vehicles from city impounds and convert them to personal vehicles)
boingboing.net/2019/01/11/fli…
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boingboing.net/2019/01/11/fli…
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But you know what? There's a pandemic on. People - especially vulnerable, low-waged, "essential" workers are going to great lengths to avoid public transit. Bike riding is resurgent.
All is forgiven, Uber.
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All is forgiven, Uber.
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Oh, wait.
Uber has scrapped 20,000 of its Jump bicycles because of a fall in revenue, sending them to the landfill rather than continuing to service them or donating them to the cities they colonized with them.
bikesharemuseum.com/20000-jump-bik…
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Uber has scrapped 20,000 of its Jump bicycles because of a fall in revenue, sending them to the landfill rather than continuing to service them or donating them to the cities they colonized with them.
bikesharemuseum.com/20000-jump-bik…
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What's more, after they were caught, Uber lied about it - only to have their official narrative contradicted by internal whistleblowers who confirmed to @bikesharemuseum that the bikes are being scrapped "by the containerload." And they've got pics.
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Uber has also fired the entire engineering team for Jump - a team that scratch-designed an entirely new set of internals that they alone know how to maintain and fix. Ebay is filling up with salvaged parts.
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"We also can’t emphasize enough how disgusting it is for UBER to scrap 20,000 bikes in the midst of a pandemic where bicycles have literally become an object of survival.These could be transportation for the many who have been brought to financial ruin during COVID-19."
eof/
eof/
