We all are familiar with Uber cars, and as Uber is now also drifting towards Uber buses and even UberPEDAL where you can go from two wheeler to four wheeler on the go, then why not Uber-like Bicycles?

Recently I visited Stanford University as a summer student and I witnessed the love of bicycles among people in bay area, especially the students. I also observed the lack of public transport in California as the Caltrains and buses generally do not function 24*7 neither do they have routes that cater to a larger portion of the area. Uber and taxis are so widely used that an average time to get an uber even at 2 am is around 20 minutes (as observed, no statistics involved)

There is another issue among people, I'd refer to students in the campus since I have had more experience with them, STOLEN BICYCLES AND THEIR PARTS!

Observing the trends:
1. Stolen bikes
2. Getting the cheapest mode of transportation- on demand + by reliable sources
3. Getting access to on-the-spot bikes for bikers and racers who don't actually carry a bike 24*7

4. Extra pocket money by just owning a bike.

These shall/might concern people especially students internationally, without any area specificity.

There could be a solution with Uber-like Bicycles! How?

Let's say we have Amanda who has a bike but needs to go for her classes/party/nightout_with_friends so she won't be using her bike for x hours. And, we have Alex who might or might not have a car but he wants to ride a bike for the next y<=x hours for fitness/exploring the campus areas that are inaccessible with a car,etc.

Alex found Amanda and they agreed on bringing the bike back to the place Amanda wants. Alex found the bike, Amanda is sure that her bike will not be stolen or broken because of the terms and conditions Alex agrees on, and the insurance covered with the facility. Yayyy!

What if Alex didn't want to go to the place Amanda wants the bike after x hours? Well, Alex can search for Peter: this guy wants the bike after y hours from the place Alex is going to and can use it to drop it at Amanda's place.

Since Peter was smarter and he pre-planned his trip y hours before, he will pay lesser than Alex who signed up for immediate use.

We are not talking about the usual high performance Uber-bikes here! Sometimes we do not require high performance bikes, right? Sometimes we just need cheapest self-dependent rides! And, a little extra dollar just by lending a bike when not in use doesn't really hurt, does it? GO Amanda! Alex and Peter bought you your meal at Starbucks (oh, you can use the money for your heels too, if you wish) ;)

Sign this petition to support such a facility. Technically, this is an easy concept to build with the support of companies based on favourable search engines (assurance as a computer Science major student) but there is a need to check whether the general public would like such a facility or not. As we were taught in Silicon Valley Innovation Academy at Stanford, "The most crucial step towards building a product that is marketable, is to check whether it is marketable or not. If you have an idea and you come to me, I won't care, trust me, but if 10,000 people tell me it would be useful, I'll be interested no matter what I personally feel about it." - Steve Blank at Stanford Sharks, SVIA finale.

The Uber-like bicycles, by Arunima Sharma. (email me at [email protected] or [email protected])

Picture credits: parklifestore2ndblog.blogspot.in

P.S- Amanda, Alex and Peter are purely imaginary characters to make the audience understand my concept. No reference to any living being (because I knew amazing people from Stanford Summer 2015 with similar names, and I am not referring to them in any way. Guys, you rock and I love your names! haha)