Sharing

A new fad appears to have emerged; in line with our new post-consumerist society apparently people now want to share stuff.

There is now a bike share scheme in Melbourne (at a ridiculous cost taxpayers, but that's a topic for another post) and several commercial car-share schemes that I occasionally hear people raving about in the papers, but I don't know anyone who actually uses them.

The thing is, I don't know if I want to share. I don't think that I'm overly selfish or overly precious about things - I wish that I could be swept away in the hysteria of all of this sharing. I wish that I could trade in my bike and car and just keep the money to spend on other luxury consumables - then save even more by learning to share those, too. The thing is, sharing just isn't stacking up for me.

1. People Wreck Things
Train stations are made of concrete and the only furniture is made of metal and bolted down. However, in my lounge room, there's carpet and a couch. I am hardly a neat-freak, but I take care of my stuff and I like it to be in good condition. Whether malicious or negligent, hire car schemes fill me with dread about showing up to my allocated car to find a pool of vomit in the passenger seat.

2. Quality
I can live on pasta and avoid eating out. I can restrict my clothing purchases to things that are already discounted and sell old clothes on eBay, if I must. However, I do own a very nice carbon fibre road bike and a fixie in cute colours with wheels expensive enough to be given their own bike lock. I am also, in my old age, getting a bit picky about cars.

Share schemes seem to trend towards to mean - they don't seem to acknowledge that in most respects I tend to be either a complete tight-ass or an elitist snob.

3. Where are these things?
Car share schemes are like petrol stations. Apparently they're all over the place, but when you start looking for one they mysteriously all vanish.

4. Demand
These schemes, like anything in infrastructure, are about balancing supply and capacity. If you buy enough cars/bikes to meet demand during the highest peak periods, most of your fleet will be idle the rest of the time. If you buy enough to get a good level of utilisation then there's nothing available during peak periods.

So, if you join one of these things then observe that there "never seems to be a car/bike available when I need it" you can reassure yourself that it's designed to work like that. If there is one available, you can rest assured that either there won't be once more people join up, or you're paying too much in fees.