CrewFan

That makes a little sad inside to see all those unused bikes.

The share bikes do OK around here, but the electric scooters are really starting to become popular.

Cpinn3r

So hard to believe that there just throwing them away like that. Just cause the place I live in with pop of 800,000 thousand has one bike share program with a total of 10 bikes.

Mind you it's much colder here where I live and probably only maybe 4 months of good riding.

Only if they can send all those usable bikes over here to North America, i'm sure they could be put to good use.

nasabiker

https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/ rates the US with a D+ that ain't great

I suppose you haven't heard of Americas failing infrastructure....see flint Michigan for example among many other issues especially in larger/older cities.
Residents in Flint, Mich., left with undrinkable water despite close proximity to Lake Huron - NY Daily News

alan s 

I-Like-To-Bike

Send the bill to Bird, Lime, Uber or whomever is the guilty party responsible for dumping their commercial fleet of crap-mobiles on the city streets and sidewalks.

starkmojo

himespau 

What a waste.

SeanBikes

acidfast7

As a person who has used dockless bike systems for the last 8 years, this couldn't be further than the truth.

Communism and personal responsibility? Interesting commentary, has you lived under communism or socialism?

The reason for the result of the photos is actually capitalism and has nothing to do with the people that used the bicycles (those are all company owned collection facilities.)

Have you been to China?

acidfast7

I like you man, but I don't understand this commentary.

noglider 

What is the difficulty you are having?

acidfast7

Well.

The bikes aren't being disposed by anyone per se, except the companies. So, I don't understand your "tossing like chopsticks" comment. No of the photos have anything to with individual people.

It really seems as if the real issue in the lack of government regulation with respect to unbridled capitalism resulting in overproduction of bicycles.

noglider 

Ah, good points, but I think part of the disposal process is by individuals, no? They leave them on the sidewalk or dump them in the rivers or whatever. But yes, this is where the system needs regulation.

acidfast7

I don't think so actually. If it's anything like my other experiences in China ... a tiny profit will be made by one firm and then 20 clones will appear and saturate the market.

All of these bikes are from bankrupt firms. I didn't actually see a single photo of a discarded bike.

Also, the user will get hugely charged should the bike go missing (or go outside range), so I find them really well taken care of if they're GPS equipped.

noglider 

Glad to hear it.

Archwhorides 

In Boston I'm seeing bikeshare cycles (whether docked or undocked) ridden a lot, particularly in the denser areas with a network of subway transportation. For every "trashed" cycle there are several others put to productive use (i.e. reducing Uber/Lyft rides). This seems like "winning" to me, am I misguided?

acidfast7

I've seen/used GPS-based dockless bikes in Germany since before 2000. System works great. System still works great. Cheap and effective.

What you're seeing in the photos is companies getting into the business and then getting out. Nothing more, nothing less.

locolobo13 

I've been curious about that part. The user rides the bike. Leaves it where ever because it is dockless. That user is done. Somebody comes along picks up the bike and either steals it or tosses it into a canal. Is the rider responsible for what happens to the bike after renting it?

BTW personal bike thefts are down here in the valley of the sun. People are stealing the "yellow" ofo bikes. You see a former yellow bikes painted over missing the meter around.

RubeRad

I've never rented a bike but I assume the user 'checks out' when they're done (so they stop the meter on their accumulating payment), after which the bike is not their responsibility. I think a lot of the bikes self-lock (metal bar through the spokes), but there's really nothing to prevent anybody (including the user who just checked out) from picking up the bike and doing whatever with it. I guess there's the GPS that will allow the bike to be tracked eventually, but vandalism is just something the companies have figured will be rare enough they can afford it, build it into the pricing.

I-Like-To-Bike

Has Ofo ever operated legally in Phoenix; are they even in operation there at all, or have they just totally abandoned whatever crap-mobiles they previously dumped on the city?

Apparently Ofo is bailing out of the U.S. market
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-b...ons-1531959910
"China Bike-Sharing Giant Ofo to Shut Most U.S. Operations

Updated July 18, 2018 9:04 p.m. ET

Less than a year after China’s Ofo Inc. entered the U.S. with big ambitions, the world’s largest bike-share company plans to shut down most of its U.S. operations, people familiar with the matter said.

Beijing-based Ofo told U.S. employees Wednesday that it is cutting the vast majority of its workforce in the U.S. and retreating to a handful of larger cities, these people said. Ofo told staff it is still determining which cities it will continue operating in, the people said. It has more than 40,000 bicycles in more than 30 U.S. markets."

Colnago Mixte

Sorry, I could not resist. Just flew in from Denver, and boy are my arms tired ...

nasabiker

well I have been around the world 2 or 3 times and my Step-mother is a transplant from Belarus when it was the USSR. Also Its a false logic to think one has to experience a situation to make a claim of its morality or quality, otherwise we could make no claims as to the moral depravity of slavery and human trafficking unless you were actually a victim. then who would fight for those who could not fight for themselves. also, on could look at Venezuela and Cuba to see that communism doesn't work, there is a reason the USSR collapsed. and as far the dockless bike-sharing is concerned, It is good that you respected the value of the bikes that were provided to you under a capitalist business model, and the investment that was made by the companies to bring you a service,but its obvious that many people do not share your ethic. therein lies the problem with communism and other similar arrangements. people by and large need a personal investment in something for them to take responsibility for its well-being. its a simple equation- why do I invest limited my time energy and skill in something if someone else will do it for me.

MMACH 5

Here in Dallas, we were the city being laughed at for letting the dockless bike-shares run rampant. Now we are being laughed at for being the city that ran dockless bike-share out of town. In February, five companies combined for 20,000 bikes in the city. In August, LimeBike became the last one standing with 500.

Seattle has apparently found a way to have a prospering dockless bike-share system. Just a few months ago, their city council voted to double the amount of shared bikes allowed on the streets.

I-Like-To-Bike

Care to define "prospering"?

MMACH 5

https://www.google.com/search?source...30.j13-eIMBmHk