From the New York Times:
It promised a new way of bike riding in New York City — GPS-tracked smart bikes that would rent for as little as $1 and did not have to be picked up or returned to fixed locations.
But before it could even start, the company that operates the bikes, Spin, canceled a demonstration project in the Rockaways in Queens after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from city transportation officials. …
Spin’s unsuccessful effort comes as a new generation of tech-savvy bike companies are vying to make riding less expensive and more convenient, competing with more established bike-share programs in the process. Instead of heading to a docking station full of bikes, riders tap a mobile app to locate the closest bicycle left by a previous rider on a street or sidewalk, or in another public space. They typically scan a code on the bikes or punch in numbers to unlock the rear wheels. Once riders get where they are going, they find a place to park the bike, and lock the wheels again to deter theft.
These so-called “dockless bike” programs aim to let customers ride on their own terms, and are similar to the flexible car-sharing program car2go, which allows drivers to leave cars where they can find on-street parking within an operating area. The dockless bikes can be rolled out more quickly and easily than bike-share systems that rely on a network of docking stations, which are expensive to build and take up valuable street and parking space. In Dallas, which had struggled for years to fund a bike-share system, there are now about 300 dockless bikes. …
But many city officials and transportation advocates contend that dockless systems are still unproven, and that piecemeal efforts by what some have called “rogue bike-share companies” have been done with flimsy equipment and little coordination or oversight. New York City transportation officials said they did not know about Spin’s demonstration until a few days beforehand.
“As much as we want to embrace new technology, it has to be done in a safe and orderly way,” said Polly Trottenberg, the city’s transportation commissioner. “We don’t want it to be the Wild West.”
Dockless bike-share systems have been tried in other countries with mixed results. In China, there have been reports of mounds of bikes cluttering up public spaces. Eric L. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, said he observed the chaos during a recent visit to Beijing and Shanghai. “It was like bike sharing on steroids,” he said. “Some were lined up but others were just dropped off and piled up like the riders were in a race to catch a train.” …
Seattle turned to dockless bikes in July after ending a 2014 dock-based program, Pronto, that had failed to attract many riders. Scott Kubly, the city’s transportation director, said the city had considered spending $5 million to expand Pronto but decided instead to put that money toward more bike routes and infrastructure, and invite companies to bring in dockless bikes through a new permit process that requires the bikes to be parked on sidewalks away from foot traffic, alongside benches and planters.
The new program has grown to 3,000 bikes operated by three companies — Spin, LimeBike, and ofo — and is expected to soon double in size to 6,000 bikes. Mr. Kubly said the city has received few complaints, and the bikes are already more heavily used than their predecessors, averaging between two and three rides per bike per day. There have been local media reports that some are being “parked irresponsibly.” …
Paul Steely White, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a group that advocates for more biking, agreed that the city should focus on Citi Bikes rather than dockless bikes. Acoalition of community groups and advocates, called #CitiBike4All, has collected 7,000 petition signatures in favor of expanding the bike-share program.
“I think it is unwise to rush to an unproven solution when we have a proven solution staring us in the face,” he said. “We’re never going to be against more bikes in New York, but at the same time, we have to approach this responsibly.”
unproven solution?
Well the New york times published a paper on this in 1976, regarding the below
http://images.charentelibre.fr/2012/07/24/5645d59b7971bb340f5181ee/golden/1000×625/pbdix-fauteuils-ont-ete-offerts-a-la-collectivite-par-le-lions-club-de-la-b-brochelle-bphoto-a-m-p.jpg
It is La Rochelle France, notice the program also includes “dockless” wheelchairs.
it was not the first one which was in Amsterdam in 1965, but there the city authority turned down on the idea using exactly the same aguments as the New York official highlighted in the article…nevertheless the very orginal idea of public bike share was…dockless.
Docking system came first in 1995 in Copenhagen, as a way to address the problem of then dockless system: theft and bikes location…however, in 2017 we have other and smarter way to address those issues (even if negligent parking could be a problem, which seems to be well tackled by dropbike in Toronto) … and those otherways are widely used in China, Germany…
…and what they have certainly proved, especially in Seattle, is that they are both cheaper for the user, and the taxpayer, as well as requiring less public space and less city intevrentionism…
may be that is what the city officials don’t like?
I sometimes wish that bike share in Vancouver had been delayed even more so that we could have got a dockless kind (Or a hybrid like Sobi) as it allows more flexibility.
Still Mobi is pretty good for many trips. Has anyone heard when they’re going to expand their docking station range?
Extension to UBC and along Kits / Jericho / Spanish Banks, Collercial Drive, Main, Arbutus Greenway South as well as W-Van (Park Royal/Dundarave/Ambleside) and N-Van (around Lonsdale) would be nice and very well received.
As well as e-bikes (for higher fees/minute) !!