
Dock-less bike share is ready to take over U.S. cities - jseliger
https://slate.com/business/2017/12/dock-less-bike-share-is-ready-to-take-over-u-s-cities.html
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jmknoll
Ugh, these bikes have been horrible in Shanghai. I loved the idea when it
first came out last summer, but they’ve gotten to be a plague. Every block is
choked with these bikes, but you’re more likely to see their handlebars
sticking out of a pond than to see them actually being ridden.

It’s a cool idea, and I’m still optimistic, but I can’t think of a city where
this idea works well. Riding a mobike is rough when it’s hot, or when it’s
cold. It’s imposible in a city that’s not flat. And in cities where biking is
nice, people already have bikes.

Interested to see where this goes, but pretty cautiously optimistic

~~~
odiroot
I'm in Chengdu, Sichuan right now. There's literally 2-3 hundreds of
Mobike/Ofo bikes nearby every metro station or shopping centre.

But it seems people at least try to put them in rows and local security
(there's rarely a public space that's really public) shouts at people for
dropping bikes randomly.

Around midnight the maintenance workers check every bike for damages / battery
level and take them back to warehouses leaving just a few dozens in a neatly
ordered lines.

What's more at least Ofo notifies you that the bike you used was park against
the rules. They probably give you a few strikes and then terminate your
account.

~~~
usrusr
Nice to hear about someone actually trying to tackle the problem instead of
simply playing a numbers game until it ultimately fails

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irl_zebra
DC has this plague now. Zero to, what must be five or six, dockless bike
companies. They're such a nuisance, people throw them in dumpsters, in rivers,
park them in the street, block the sidewalk, break the locks and ride them
normally. It's awful.

It definitely could fill a niche because sometimes the docked bike stations
are too far or empty, but right now they're a huge nuisance and I'm seeing a
bit of a backlash.

~~~
jdavis703
What's wrong with bikes parked in the street (assuming they're using on-street
parking)? They certainly take up less room than a car parked in the same
space.

Edited for clarity.

~~~
grepthisab
In my experience, in a crosswalk literally in the street. Although having a
dock less bike take up car parking spots I’m trying to use would be
infuriating.

~~~
PantaloonFlames
What may be infuriating for you, could be delightful for 25 bike riders.

~~~
nugi
Except in most cases its a car full of frusturated people, and one
inconsiderate cyclist. Its a problem on both sides. Being smug helps noone.

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ysea
They've been great in Seattle. I mostly ride my own bike around but have used
dock-less bikes for connecting the last-mile on a bus trip. A small percentage
are poorly parked and when I walk by I take the 5 seconds to move a bike or
pick one up that's fallen over. No biggie.

I also like that it is putting pressure on the stupid nanny-state helmet law.

~~~
btgeekboy
Well, I’m glad at least one of us enjoys them. Walking around them every day
is getting old, fast. The city is littered with these neon orange/green/yellow
things cluttering up our throughways.

~~~
rizzom5000
Interesting. My commute by foot into downtown is 30 minutes/1.5 miles each way
every day and I scarcely notice the bikes. I think they're a great idea and
hope the idea flourishes.

~~~
d3sandoval
Fremont is completely covered in them. They're parked all over the burke
gilman trail, cutting away at the already limited space for walkers, bikers,
and joggers.

As much as I love the idea of accessible bikes, the lack of helmets and sheer
amount of space consumed feels overwhelmingly unsafe at times.

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tnorthcutt
_They threaten to fill every inch of urban public space with hundreds of
thousands of plastic bikes._

What? Is this hyperbole, or are there actually companies making bikes out of
plastic? That sounds like a terrible idea.

~~~
usrusr
Well, all the high end performance bikes are carbon these days, "making bikes
out of plastic" is a somewhat accurate description of their manufacturing
process. But those are certainly not the semi-disposable bikeshare junk we are
talking about here.

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jusben1369
In Durham NC, we went from zero to 3 new dockless bike share programs on the
streets in the same week! I personally think it's great, but it was strange to
go from zero to 3. To me, the interesting part is how expensive is it to keep
those bikes in good working order? It's still very new here so time will tell.

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Symbiote
It works fine in Copenhagen, but there is plenty of bicycle parking on every
street. Most people leave the doodles hire bikes in a proper bicycle rack.

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anderskev
Like others I think this idea sounds great in theory, especially for cities
without a dock system already in place. I'm pretty confused about NYC
encouraging this though given the obviously downfalls. One of the few things I
actually dislike about living here is the complete disregard for public
spaces/services. There are many reasons for it, but I can't imagine how bad
this will get if New Yorkers and our tourists treat these bicycles with the
same care they treat the subways/buses/parks/sidewalks, etc. I imagine pretty
much every major tourist destination that's an open space will be completely
filled with discarded bicycles from May to November each year. Not to mention
the burden this will put on the already overcrowded Manhattan sidewalks.

A few years ago when Citi bike started I remember it being pretty sparse, and
I could have seen the benefit of dockless programs to encourage faster
expansion. At this point they are everywhere, except farther out areas of
Brooklyn and Queens where many people have cars and likely wouldn't use them.
Citi bike seems (to me) to bring all the benefits of a dockless system without
any of the downsides. Granted the price is higher, but it's still cheaper than
the subway if you buy the membership, and for tourists if they are here for 3+
days and get the $24 pass.

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Isamu
Dang, I thought this would be about autonomous bikes that would circle the
city and you'd hail with an app.

Got to get working on that bike-mounted lidar.

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programLyrique
Dockless bikes have arrived in Paris since October. The city officials would
like to regulate them and maybe tax them as they use the public spaces to park
the bikes: [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-paris-
bicycles/par...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-paris-
bicycles/paris-wants-to-regulate-asian-bike-share-operators-idUSKBN1CP1UZ)

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vermooten
Mobike didn't work too well in Manchester hoo boy:
[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/16/manche...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/16/manchesters-
bike-share-scheme-isnt-working-because-people-dont-know-how-to-share)

~~~
tobylane
Same in London. The boroughs don't give enough permission to the dock based
scheme. One council shared a photo of the bikes on this scheme they seized,
[https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/cyclists-fury-
afte...](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/cyclists-fury-after-more-
than-100-obike-hire-cycles-are-seized-in-clampdown-a3604771.html).

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Mankhool
Like it did China? [https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/25/chinas-
bike-...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/25/chinas-bike-share-
graveyard-a-monument-to-industrys-arrogance)

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nugi
I suspect many will try, and few will see any returns. Which bugs me, because
I (perhaps irrationally) really like the idea.

I got a bigger chuckle than apt from this quote:

“It’s like the internet in 1999.”

Suuuuure.

~~~
nugi
So, downvoters, how is this like the 1999 internet?

At least engauge if you disagree.

~~~
dang
This comment breaks the HN guidelines:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html).

More generally, please don't post unsubstantive comments here.

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revelation
The best part about dock-less bike share is the cognitive dissonance of people
claiming they are somehow "blocking the street" and "ruining its character"
standing in a sea of parked private cars on public space.

~~~
jclardy
I get your point, but I have seen bikes dumped in the middle of the sidewalk.
It would be nice if the bike share companies gave a discount or something for
"friendly" parking. Like you take a photo of the bike's parking spot when you
are done then they give you a credit on your account if it is orderly.

Of course, someone would have to click through these photos, but seems like a
simple enough mechanical turk task.

I guess someone could take a photo then dump the bike onto the sidewalk, but
it seems that wouldn't be worth the effort. of properly parking it in the
first place.

