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The Random Texan

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Dilletante * Raconteur

More tax dollars down a rathole

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by

therandomtexan

in

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San Antonio is joining the ranks of hipster bike-friendly cities by unveiling our new Bike Sharing Posts, opening for business in January.  For a mere $1 million in Federal funds, there will be 140 bikes available for tooling around downtown.  Locals can get an annual subscription for $60.

Arithmetic time!  140 bikes at $1 million, gives $7142.86 per bike.  Divide that by $60, and each bike needs 120 subscribers to put it in the black.  140 bikes by 120 subscribers gives 16,800 subscriptions.  Either someone has seriously overestimated the number of brain-dead hipsters who will be cycling downtown in the summer sun, or the city expects these bikes to last a l-o-o-n-g time.  What the hell, it’s not their money they spent.

3 responses to “More tax dollars down a rathole”

  1. John Avatar
    John

    I’ve heard that the bikes-on-buses program in Houston has cost about $100 per bicycle boarding.

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  2. therandomtexan Avatar
    therandomtexan

    That’s about what a two-bike rack for a car costs. Just another example of how government disperses costs and concentrates benefits.

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  3. OK, it’s official. The money went down a rathole. « The Home for Wayward Statisticians

    […] I predicted the City of San Antonio’s Bike Sharing Program would be a bust, and it appears I was right.  So there’s $000,000 of YOUR tax dollars blown.  The only upside I see is that the B-Cycle kiosks are a strong signal of good locations for  private bicycle shops like the Blue Star Bicycle Company.  Hmm, I wonder if I could get those barely used b-cycles from the City on the cheap.  I’ve got an idea… […]

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