> “There has been a subtle but very significant shift in power in favor of the tech companies,” Professor Mittelstadt said, with algorithms created to benefit the bosses at the expense of workers. Bike Angels face “a very fundamental problem with the gig economy we have now, which is the lack of fairness on behalf of the people who are doing the work,” he said.
> That a handful of sweaty hustlers have managed to take back some of that power qualifies as a win, Professor Mittelstadt added. “It makes me smile.”
I get that there’s legitimate criticism of rideshare companies, but this is such a frustrating position for a “professor of ethics” to take.
This is basically public infrastructure that has been contracted out to private companies for operation. Lyft has already been rumored to be trying to exit the business of bike shares.
If Lyft exits the business, and the city has no choice but to directly manage Citibike, will the professor change his tune? What’s fundamentally different about scamming the government directly vs scamming the company the government has hired to deliver a necessary city service?
It's not really fair to say $6k a month is pocket change. I agree with one of the quotes that if they want some different behavior, they should incentivise something different.
“How are we cheating?” said one Angel in a baggy gray T-shirt, black athletic shorts and sneakers, who declined to give his name. “If Lyft wants something else, they can change the algorithm.”
I don't think anyone would buy that he doesn't know it's cheating, but that won't stop him from attempting to rationalize his behavior because he likes the money.
Washington, DC has a similar program [1]. I believe Capital Bikeshare is also maintained by Lyft in some way. I wonder if this one is harder to abuse or if it's just that NYC has a larger pop than DC so there is a larger pool of bikes to collect?
It seems like you can only turn the rebalancing points back into gift cards at best, which would make it really hard to turn your $6k into rent money at any scale.
I also feel like just one empowered customer service person with a banhammer could seriously curb the behavior in the article. The problem is that they're 'solving' the imbalances that they're creating, so its pretty detectable.
Old stuff, bike renting companies were proposing that in Brussels years ago, before doing that will their own employees. I guess the scheme has been abused.
Is there anything portable you can get that you can just slap on a bike and have it move electrically? Maybe some small battery+motor that can clamp directly to one of the gears or something?
oluminate|1 year ago
cwillu|1 year ago
tacticalturtle|1 year ago
> That a handful of sweaty hustlers have managed to take back some of that power qualifies as a win, Professor Mittelstadt added. “It makes me smile.”
I get that there’s legitimate criticism of rideshare companies, but this is such a frustrating position for a “professor of ethics” to take.
This is basically public infrastructure that has been contracted out to private companies for operation. Lyft has already been rumored to be trying to exit the business of bike shares.
If Lyft exits the business, and the city has no choice but to directly manage Citibike, will the professor change his tune? What’s fundamentally different about scamming the government directly vs scamming the company the government has hired to deliver a necessary city service?
Nexxxeh|1 year ago
A system put in place to incentivise helping people, abused by a few to inconvenience customers for pocket change.
snypher|1 year ago
DangitBobby|1 year ago
“How are we cheating?” said one Angel in a baggy gray T-shirt, black athletic shorts and sneakers, who declined to give his name. “If Lyft wants something else, they can change the algorithm.”
I don't think anyone would buy that he doesn't know it's cheating, but that won't stop him from attempting to rationalize his behavior because he likes the money.
kiloshib|1 year ago
[1] https://capitalbikeshare.com/bike-angels/rewards
recursivecaveat|1 year ago
I also feel like just one empowered customer service person with a banhammer could seriously curb the behavior in the article. The problem is that they're 'solving' the imbalances that they're creating, so its pretty detectable.
zoobab|1 year ago
brokenmachine|1 year ago
dyauspitr|1 year ago
ahazred8ta|1 year ago
landgenoot|1 year ago