Category: Analysis

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Erwin Road Needs More Crosswalks

Current conditions require up to a half-mile detour!

Erwin Road is the busiest bus corridor in Durham. GoTriangle, GoDurham and Duke Transit together have as many as 16 stops on this road. Erwin is up to six lanes wide, has high speeds, and has only one pedestrian refuge island (at a 3-lane section, lol). It can be deadly to cross without a crosswalk and pedestrian lights. So, I did a crosswalk audit on foot and followed it up with some Google Maps measurements of distances from bus stops to safe(r) crossings.

  • Coming from the west, the first bus stop is the worst: the westbound GoTriangle 400/405 bus stops across from the Duke Center for Living. The closest light is at Cameron, which would be 1100 ft detour to cross the street.
    However, there’s no crosswalk there and it’s five lanes wide. To actually use a crosswalk, it’s a 3000 ft detour to Morreene / Towerview. This is over a half mile, over a 10-minute walk in addition to waiting for the pedestrian signal!
  • Next is the GoDurham 11b and GoTriangle 400/405 stop at Morreene / Towerview. It requires a 790-foot detour and crossing a dangerous continuous-right turn “slip lane” to reach PruitHealth or Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital.
  • Third is the GoDurham 11/11b and GoTriangle 400/405 stop at Lasalle, a 550-foot detour to cross Erwin. This stop is used by pregnant patients going to the Fetal Diagnostic Center and people working at Dunkin, Chipotle, etc.
  • Next is the GoDurham 11/11b and GoTriangle 400/405 stop at Douglas / Research. The north side of the street has a decent stop with a shelter, but the south side requires a 720-foot detour to reach the apartments. This is a site of frequent mid-block crossings by pedestrian riders due to the layout of the crosswalks and placement of the bus stops.
  • Then the GoDurham 6, 11/11b and Duke Transit H5 stop east of Research requires a 610-foot detour to cross the street to reach Hock Plaza and the Saladelia Cafe.
  • Up next is the GoTriangle 400/405 stop near Fulton, the Duke Hospital, and VA. It is very close to light and crosswalk, but the road is six lanes wide here.
  • Finally the GoDurham 6 and GoTriangle DRX stop near Emergency Dr. is close to a crosswalk and light.
  • There are currently no bus stops east of Trent!
  • The only pedestrian island is at a marked crosswalk away from traffic lights at the Alexander intersection. This crossing should have a Hawk light and pedestrian push buttons if not a full traffic light.

Help me dig into these sidewalk guideline documents and demand better conditions for transit users and pedestrians:

If all we get in this update of Erwin Road is paint, let’s get the right paint in the right places to maximize safety for all vulnerable commuters.

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An Always-Updated Analysis of #docklessdurham Bikeshares

Dockless Durham is Dead?

https://indyweek.com/news/durham/spin-and-lime-bikes-in-durham-have-disappeared/

Lime Free Helmets

Get a free Helmet from lime by signing their pledge to ‘respect the ride’ https://www.li.me/respect-the-ride

Lime Price Increase

Mid-September 2018 Lime updated their pricing model for pedal bikes in Durham. The new price is $1 to unlock plus 5¢/min, and with the EDU discount it is 50¢ to unlock plus 2¢/min.

City of Durham’s Info Page

http://durhamnc.gov/3219/Bike-Share

Operators

There are currently two companies operating in Durham (Spin and Lime). Ofo was a third operator that was the last to start and the first to pull out of the Durham market. I have taken look at the costs, details, bikes, and apps. Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have corrections or additions!

Reporting Problems

For bike relocation requests or to report a bike that’s in need of repair, here is the contact information:

Costs

Promotions

  • Current promos will be added here

Education Discounts

LimeBike and Spin offer a 50% education discount to those who register with an EDU email address. This discount applies to both pay-per-ride and subscription models. For Spin, the pay-per ride cost becomes 50¢ per half hour. For Lime, there is an extra 2¢/min charge. The LimePrime  and Spin Unlimited subscriptions are also discounted as outlined in a section below. Note, when signing up for Spin don’t use the Facebook button to  log in, rather enter an EDU email address if you have one to qualify for the 50% discount.

Regular Price Pay-Per-Ride

Spin charges $1 per 30 minutes of ride time (half price with EDU email). For Lime there is an extra 5¢/min charge (2¢ with EDU discount).

Subscriptions

The monthly model is pretty simple for Spin – a number of months with unlimited 30-minute rides for a fixed price. One month unlimited is $29 ($14 with EDU email). A 3-month plan is $59 ($29 with EDU email), and a 12-month plan is $99 ($49 with EDU email).

With an EDU address, the Spin Unlimited plan provides unlimited 30-minute rides at a good price.

For LimeBike there appears to be a monthly price of $29.95 ($14.95 with the EDU discount). Rather than being unlimited like Spin, this plan includes 100 ‘free’ rides, and then above 100 in a month each ride is 14¢ each.

Reloading Pay-Per-Ride Balances

For Spin and LimeBikes there are ‘bonuses’ awarded when reloading your balance:

  • Spin’s bonus is $1 extra for every $5 reloaded. So effectively every 6th ride is free.
  • LimeBike’s bonuses are ‘1 free ride’ when you add $10, ‘3 free rides’ when you add $20, or ’10 free rides’ when you add $50.

Summary

Spin is cheaper or equal to LimeBike for pay-per-ride and subscriptions. Spin also offers the best reload bonus, especially if you have the EDU discount.

Referrals Rewards

  • Spin offers a free ride up to $10 when you refer a friend with your personal code. Presumably this is a single ride up to 5 hours in length?
  • LimeBike offers 3 free rides for you and 3 for the person you referred. Presumably these are all 30-minute rides.

If you appreciate this guide, please use my referral codes:

  • LimeBike: RP37UXF
  • Spin: DAVIDBR01

Summary

LimeBike has the most generous referral bonus.

Free Rides on LimeBike ‘Bonus Bikes’?

Bonus Bikes
Lime’s Bonus Bikes are marked with a moneybag icon in the app.

LimeBike offers free rides on so-called ‘Bonus Bikes’. If you ride that bike for at least ten minutes, they make your ride free. I noticed most of the ‘Bonus Bikes’ help relocate underused bikes to new locations where they may see more traffic, without relying on LimeBike employees to shuttle bikes around in vans. It’s not clear how to tell which specific bike in a cluster of bikes matches up to the Bonus Bike on the app map besides renting one and hopefully getting lucky.

Bike Quality and Features

The obvious difference is color (Orange for Spin and lime green for LimeBikes). All bikes have 3-speed twist shift, lights, fenders, a basket, a step-through frame, kickstand, bell, etc. Some LimeBikes have an adjustable cell-phone mount on the handlebars. None of the bikes come with helmets. The handlebars are a bit different on the bikes: I find the Spin bars to be pretty narrow for me, and I like the swept-back LimeBike handlebars best.

A Warning for Tall Riders

Not all LimeBikes are created equal: some have ‘normal’ seatpost clamps and long seatposts which fit me well, while others have a simple seatpost lever (see photo) and short seatposts. I have also had a few of the ‘normal’ seatpost LimeBikes where the seatpost was jammed all the way down, so beware and raise the seat before you rent! Spin seems to have the longest seatposts, and on some of their bikes you can extend the seat beyond the 2″ safety margin line or remove the seat entirely (time will tell if we see these orange bikes vandalized and seatless).

Seatpost Lever
Some LimeBikes have a simple seatpost lever with short seatposts which aren’t good for tall riders. Check before you rent!

Apps

Download apps for the bikeshare operators here:

There is a third party app called Transit which allows one to check many  transportation options at once. Right now it supports all local bus systems, Spin, Uber, and directions for biking and walking. Get it below and see these articles for more information!
Transit: Apple, Android

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