This is a neat tool, and while this is maybe a bit too local for hackernews, I can say that using the current ebike rental system in Stockholm is pretty problematic atm. Currently the perspective is like you go to find a bike in the official app, but there are none there in reality. Or it doesn't unlock or the battery is at like 3 percent (shown in the app when unlocked). The system is great however when it does work because ebikes are nice.
To be honest, with how open data is becoming I would bet we see more solutions from independent parties to solve problems with official solutions. Was an interesting case to see here. And ofc I am benefitting from it by being able to actually ride ebikes so that's nice. Some problems with the app I notice ofc (doesnt show your location well imo), but the official app is so horrible I overlook this.
I think in many ways it does because - and this is not meant to be a criticism but a statement of experience - I have really only heard complaints from those that are used to a culture of being able to drive somewhere, get their items of choice and bring them back. Maybe it is more of a Stockholm thing to plan days around this sort of thing, but when you say you only change once from Thorildsplan that is to me initially thinking an amazing setup. But I can see where if you come from a place where you just hop into the car and drive 5 minutes you get to your destination why it would be annoying. And yeah ofc it's just expected that for somethings you need to plan 3rd party services around things. For the garbage collection prime example, TipTapp is our goto since it works wonders for us (but ofc can't technically do "garbage" with it but great for sofas and such), we accept that without a car and trailer this is what we must do. That or plan around a neighbor's trip. As for not renting, I mean it's stockholm, parking will be expensive and not everyone likes the idea of paying 1100kr per month for parking I get it. Sometimes we rent a car but that's more for longer trips (read: to Romme Alpin or the like). I guess it's part of living in the city. You make a lot of tradeoffs. I do remember hearing how frustrating it was though for some expat colleagues that everything had to be planned for summer by like April/May and they liked to be more spontaneous. It makes me wonder that maybe it is just expected of people to plan too much here :P. If you try to just be spontaneous it doesn't work out well for many
The thing that will be interesting to see as well is how they approach a market where delivery has been increasingly important over bulk availability. Thinking about prices of services like MatHem and picsmart etc and if they can shake it up
I am curious if your perspective comes from someone that is swedish or not. The general consensus locally is the opposite sentiment ime and ofc you can easily rent cars for the day or a small trailer for very cheap. That coupled with the fact to for example Kungens Kurva it is somewhere you can get to within an hour from within even the city center is quite nice and the bus stop is literally next to the IKEA (ofc you go to Barkarby if more north and again the station for the bus is right next to center). The delivery is interesting that you note considering we have always been able to get things delivered to our apartment though maybe it depends where you live...
To be honest, with how open data is becoming I would bet we see more solutions from independent parties to solve problems with official solutions. Was an interesting case to see here. And ofc I am benefitting from it by being able to actually ride ebikes so that's nice. Some problems with the app I notice ofc (doesnt show your location well imo), but the official app is so horrible I overlook this.
Here was the original reddit thread posted on this where I saw it: https://www.reddit.com/r/stockholm/comments/wc6yot/stockholm...