Here in Sevilla, transportation comes in MANY shapes and forms. In the scheme of things, sevillanos LOVE to walk everywhere they go and for the beginning of my semester, I too joined in suit. But eventually, the 25 minute walk to school, the 40 minute walk to our favorite bar and even the 6 block saunter to the end of our street began to take its toll. I had heard about this fabulous bike service that Sevilla offers, Sevici, before I even came and as soon as I got here, I went ordered my long term subscription. And every since my wondrous card arrived 1 and 1/2 weeks ago, the adventures have been quite the mix of great and frustrating. Here's a little overview of Sevici...
The Good:
The basic principal of Sevici is the ability to rent bikes in order to get order the city. After paying a membership fee and receiving your card, you can go to one of the several stations throughout the city and check out a bike. Your first 30 minutes of riding are free (and as I learned out the hard way, YOU SHOULD NEVER GO OVER--more on that later) and that can get you most places in the city with no problems! Also, Sevilla is super bike friendly and has a painted bike lane that traverses most of the city! So in theory, Sevici is a GREAT service--the bikes even have baskets and headlights and the service operates 24/7. The bikes are a little awkward to navigate because they are heavy, but overall, very efficient. Not to mention, it is a good workout, especially when paired with the already immense amount of walking I do. And there is a station right outside my house. Fantastic it would seem.
The Bad:
Like I mentioned before, you have 30 minutes to ride as you please free. And to check it back in, you simply find a station, push the bike into one of the lock posts and go print a receipt of your successful bike return (if you wish). However problems tend to pile on here. There can be a large number of bikes at stations that are broken or have funky seats (I rarely ever get a bike with an acceptable seat). Also, people have a hard time checking bikes back in and the locks don't click all the way. One incorrect return of a bike, and you could rack up 24 hours of charges to Sevici (it's .50 euro per half hour over 30 min, starting at 31 minutes). So even if you thought you checked it in, it is possible that you were in a rush and simply didn't here the warning beeps that indicate an incorrect lock. That's the first frustrating aspect of the service. The second is one I unfortunately have had experience with--not being able to find an open station. I can generally make it from EUSA, the school to my barrio in about 15 minutes on a bike, plenty of time. However, like all occasionally lazy Americans, I prefer to bike to the closest station which is right outside my building. WRONG DECISION. Tuesday began my week of bike problems (that is still continuing as of tonight, that part later) when I went ONE minute over the 30 minute deadline, simply because I could not find an open station. After 4 full stations, wrong way bike riding, an embarrassing fall on my bike, a bruised shin, profuse sweating and a lack of a bike lane, I had to back track all the way back to the first station in my neighborhood to plug my bike in. 1 MINUTE LATE. The issue compounds from there. Sevici disallows you to check out another bike until you pay the fine, so I decided to go ahead and clear it. WRONG AGAIN. After trying to pay online thousands of times with both credit cards and at 7 or so Sevici stations, I was unable to clear the charge. Additionally, the help phone line was just RIDICULOUSLY fast Spanish prompting, also clearly a no go. A few emails were sent, as I am more confident in my written Spanish abilities, but considering the "no pasa nada" or whatever Spanish attitude, ultimately I was bikeless for a few days. And once you've tried Sevici, it's hard to go without it again, especially when all time distances are cut in half! But being who I am (an investigator, a journalistic and an adventurer), I was determined to fix this hellacious Sevici problem.
The Adventure:
My friend Christina also ran into a similar problem with her newly acquired Sevici subscription--after a lazy riverfront ride, she too went over the 30 minute limit and lost access to the bikes until she removed the fine. Since we both share a preference for in-person problem solving, we decided a trip to the office would be the best way for us to solve the problem. After extensive combing of the website for the address (it was hidden inside the PDF that discusses the legal implications of the Sevici contract), several Google Map searches and intense discussion, we decided to go, even though it was a 1 HOUR walk from her neighboorhood (an almost 2 hour walk from mine). Considering Christina's barrio is off the Sevilla map we were given, the barrio where the office was seemed to be several quadrants off the map. FANTASTIC. The problem solving did not end there--my overwhelming love for public transportation shone through and I spent Wednesday night searching for a bus to take us remotely close to the office. After more Google maps and transportation websites, we found what we needed with the number 52. The next morning, with loose directions and some bus fare, we hoped on that 52 and rode our 20 minutes to the stop nearest to the office's address.
Also, we rode 20 minutes to what appeared to be a potentially bad part of town. AWESOME.
As we got off the bus on in the sketchy barrio of inspirational street names (things like honesty, friendship, liberty--uplifting right?), we traversed an even sketchier trash-filled field to the adjacent street where I remembered the map indicated the office was (no I did not bring a copy of the map I so carefully researched, just more or less memorized it). Good plan, right. Next thing we know, we Christina and I are no longer in a run-down barrio, but instead an equally run-down industrial park. Two American girls. excellent (in reality, since it was broad daylight we WERE FINE, the hyperbolic version of the story is just much better). So industrial park. As we were about to give up, the Sevici office shown like a beacon in the distance. And surprisingly were super nice and understanding off our bike problems and Americaness and fixed everything, telling us that a lot of people were having problems too. I would call this adventure a SUCCESS. Despite the semi-dangerous nature of it. Sevici is back on my list of favorites.
Back to normal, almost?:
It's nice to have my bike back, considering it makes get around so much easier! However, there is still the issue of full stations, more of a nuisance than anything else and to avoid repeating this experience I just tend to park at the first open station I see. Just part of the whole service experience, I suppose. Flaws are unavoidable. My newest challenge, however, has now been successfully riding the bike. After our day trip today, I managed to WIPE COMPLETELY out on San Fernando near the tram tracks (also with my luck, a tram was coming the opposite direction right to my side). But completely fall, bag go flying (with camera inside), bike fall on top of me, another bruised/painful knee, but mostly completely shattered pride as what seemed the entire of population of Sevilla was watching. Spain should have enough evidence now that 1) I am indeed AMERICAN; and 2) I probably don't know how to bike (at all). C'est la vie. Es la vida. Such is life.
Besides what's a small price like that to pay, considering I now call SPAIN my home? nothing in the scheme of things, my friends!
Sevici may be beating me in the current moment, but I will master the service by the end of my time here, I am sure. And all though in this post the bad certainly outweighs the good (or so it appears), it is probably just because of my prolific storytelling. Sevici is a great part of Sevilla and it would be fantastic to see something similar to this start in the States--Chapel Hill would be a prime customer! Overall, here's to happy riding, no more falls and mastering biking before returning to Chapel Hill!
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