Introducing Jericho, the bike that's a pony that I own that's not mine
This morning, I bought a bike. There's every chance I'll never ride it, but I'll ride dozens that are almost identical. Once I hit the payment button, I was told I'd adopted it and was asked to give it a name.
I called it Jericho.
Jericho's now part of Pony Bikes' fleet of dockless cycles dotted around Oxford. I've been using the service since the spring. Users scan a barcode on one of the service's hundreds of bikes using their phone and are charged about 50p for half an hour of riding time.
Pony Bikes are pivoting to a model where users own the bikes. Anyone can buy a bike on the network and Pony Bikes will act as the bike's guardian - cleaning it, servicing it, making sure it's in an area where it'll be used. If you buy a bike, you get the revenue.
I love the service so much. I can leave my wife in the town centre and quickly pop to Cowley Road or Summertown. I initially used it to get up to the hospital knowing that parking in that area is horrendous and sometimes even getting close in a car is next to impossible. The opportunity to make a bit of money is nice, but I'm more interested in supporting them and letting more people like me have the opportunity to do a bit of bike riding now and then.
If you're in Oxford, see if you can spot Jericho. He's ready and waiting to take you on a mini adventure.