Bike share company Moby has decided to stop naming their bikes after females and sending messages to their customers telling them "you are riding" Maeve or Mary - among other names - and at what cost.
The issue was highlighted by one Moby user Eemer Eivers who strongly objected to the language being used and immediately brought her concerns to the company's attention by way of an email complaint.
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In her initial Tweet about the issue at the weekend she pointed out to Twitter users that "all bikes now have female names, the app tells you how long 'you’re riding Mary' and how much she costs". She added the company initially did share her concerns about using language suggesting users were "buying women for a ride".
While taking a "ride" is US parlance for being transported, or getting 'a lift', in Dublin slang 'a ride' is very much a coarse sexual term. Dr Eivers said when she pointed out to Moby that all of the names for their bikes were women's names, she was told this was "empowering", though she felt it was an "ignorant" and "sexist" use of language.
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And while one Twitter user suggested the US phrase of taking "a ride" simply did not work in Ireland, Dr Eivers pointed out while this was a fair point, international companies "pay big bucks to ensure they don’t mess up in different cultures". However, she said as far as she was aware, Moby was an Irish company - which she is correct about.
In the end, however, it appears her Tweets the reaction they generated gave the Moby pause for thought. They have decided they will use the codes for each bike in their messages to customers rather than using female names for the bikes.
"They've decided to revert to ID numbers for bikes," Dr Eivers confirmed in one of her final Tweets on the matter. "This is what I suggested when I emailed on Thursday to complain that naming all bikes as women was inappropriate."
