Dockless Bikeshare – The Dockpocalypse Nears

[consularrider]

Here’s one of the dockless DB Call a Bikes (red and silver livery) along the Nidda River. Or maybe it’s a dockless Nextbike (blue and silver livery), can’t tell since it’s now a muddy brown.

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[peterw_diy]

@drevil 180574 wrote:

I occasionally see onesies and twosies of these here and there. You think anyone will care if they are taken home, fixed, and ridden?

“I can say that less than 50 bikes remain on DC streets, which we are working on collecting as we speak.”

-Mobike spokesperson per https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/08/10/ofo-wont-scrap-bikes-dc/

I wonder if they have given up on collecting bikes left in other jurisdictions – you’d think they could have retrieved 50 in the last three weeks.

[PeteD]

Seems the Brits are as bad as the French:
Crime-hit Mobike suspends Manchester sharing scheme

[chris_s]

Arlington’s Shared Mobility Pilot (for dockless bikes & scooters) is on the Board’s “consent agenda” (for non-controversial items) this Saturday. Pilot would last 9 months, would charge each provider $8000 per mode and would limit all providers to 200 vehicles per mode with the possibility of asking for increases in 50 vehicle increments as long as they can show each vehicles is being used at least 3 times per day, with a hard limit of 350 vehicles per mode.

For reference, Bird currently has 500+ scooters in Arlington and is seeing 4 to 5 trips per scooter per day.

[infinitebuffalo]

@chris_s 181154 wrote:

Arlington’s Shared Mobility Pilot … would limit all providers to 200 vehicles per mode with the possibility of asking for increases in 50 vehicle increments as long as they can show each vehicles is being used at least 3 times per day, with a hard limit of 350 vehicles per mode.

For reference, Bird currently has 500+ scooters in Arlington and is seeing 4 to 5 trips per scooter per day.

DC’s dockless pilot is capped at 400. How does Arlington intend to enforce a cap that’s lower than a neighboring town’s? (Never mind that it’s lower than what’s already there…)

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[huskerdont]

From a related post on ArlNow on the dockless bike and scooter pilot:

“The policy also adds that both scooters and electric bikes won’t be permitted on county trails.”

https://www.arlnow.com/2018/09/20/county-unveils-dockless-vehicle-pilot-program-plans-to-cap-number-of-scooters-and-bikes-in-arlington/

Not that it would ever be enforced, of course.

[Judd]

@huskerdont 181167 wrote:

From a related post on ArlNow on the dockless bike and scooter pilot:

“The policy also adds that both scooters and electric bikes won’t be permitted on county trails.”

https://www.arlnow.com/2018/09/20/county-unveils-dockless-vehicle-pilot-program-plans-to-cap-number-of-scooters-and-bikes-in-arlington/

Not that it would ever be enforced, of course.

Of additional note, scooters are restricted to 10 mph and e-bikes to 15 mph which essentially means that all providers in the market would have to modify their equipment in order to comply with the pilot.

[chris_s]

The policy was pulled from the consent agenda and will receive a public hearing on Tuesday at 6:30pm.

[Judd]

@chris_s 181288 wrote:

The policy was pulled from the consent agenda and will receive a public hearing on Tuesday at 6:30pm.

Do you have details on the hearing? I’m interested in attending and contacting my electeds beforehand.

[chris_s]

@Judd 181290 wrote:

Do you have details on the hearing? I’m interested in attending and contacting my electeds beforehand.

You can speak in-person at the meeting by showing up and filling out a speaker slip, first-come, first-served. You must submit your speaker slip before the item is heard. Don’t be late. You can direct advance comments to both countyboard@arlingtonva.us (your electeds) and also to mobility@arlingtonva.us (staff).

Here is the staff report, which states the draft policy.

[Dewey]

@chris_s 181291 wrote:

Here is the staff report, which states the draft policy.

By not changing the County Code this draft policy affirms the current shared use trail prohibition on e-scooters and ebikes, presumably including Capital Bikeshare Plus pedelecs, how are those riders supposed to legally safely cross the Potomac? Voting to prohibit riding 10mph speed limited e-scooters on sidewalks?

[dasgeh]

@Judd 181199 wrote:

Of additional note, scooters are restricted to 10 mph and e-bikes to 15 mph which essentially means that all providers in the market would have to modify their equipment in order to comply with the pilot.

Anyone have (or want to compile) a summary of speed restrictions on ebikes and escooters from other dockless pilots? Best I can tell, DC has a limit of 20mph on ebikes and none I can see on escooters, but I may be reading it wrong.

I did find this report, which has a regulation breakdown, but it doesn’t mention speed restrictions.

[CaseyKane50]

@dasgeh 181361 wrote:

Anyone have (or want to compile) a summary of speed restrictions on ebikes and escooters from other dockless pilots? Best I can tell, DC has a limit of 20mph on ebikes and none I can see on escooters, but I may be reading it wrong.

I did find this report, which has a regulation breakdown, but it doesn’t mention speed restrictions.

NACTO published “Guidelines for the Regulation and Mananagement of Shared Active Transportation” in July. The guidelines spell out the speed limit on page 9

For all electric-assist small vehicles (e.g. e-bikes, e-scooters), the maximum motor-assist speed
shall be 15mph.

[lordofthemark]

@CaseyKane50 181366 wrote:

NACTO published “Guidelines for the Regulation and Mananagement of Shared Active Transportation” in July. The guidelines spell out the speed limit on page 9

Note that is is in the shared use context – they do not seem to be saying personally owned ebikes should be regulated to go no faster than 15MPH.

Still the inconsistency with the 20MPH for Class 1 ebikes in the California law (now being adopted by other states as well) seems odd to me. Unless they are assuming A. Shared bike users will be less experienced/skilled B. Shared bikes – even ebikes – are less more likely to be used on sidewalks and trails than owned ebikes. Interestingly there is nothing in the PDF about the issue of limiting ebikes from being ridden on sidewalks or MUTS – but a very long section on issues and options relating to parking them.

[Judd]

Interesting analysis on the turnover rate of dockless equipment in DC:

https://ggwash.org/view/69307/who-killed-dcs-dockless-pedal-bicycles

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