Dockless Bikeshare – The Dockpocalypse Nears

[Starduster]

Ofo is (im)famous for the piles of discarded bikes it leaves behind. You’ll still see some on the streets in DC. They have been abandoned and *claimed*.

[consularrider]

In the two weeks I been in the area this time, I’ve been across the Potomac into DC twice. I have yet to see a “dockless” bikeshare machine on this trip. Did they all disappear when the e-scooters showed up?

[Starduster]

@consularrider 181749 wrote:

In the two weeks I been in the area this time, I’ve been across the Potomac into DC twice. I have yet to see a “dockless” bikeshare machine on this trip. Did they all disappear when the e-scooters showed up?

Pretty much yeah. A couple of vendors walked away (if you see the distinctive Ofo yellow, it was a bike abandoned and claimed), others pivoted to all E-scooters. The only dockless bike remaining is the e-assist Jump.

Again, here’s the Greater Greater Washington study: https://ggwash.org/view/69307/who-killed-dcs-dockless-pedal-bicycles

[peterw_diy]

@Starduster 181752 wrote:

Again, here’s the Greater Greater Washington study: https://ggwash.org/view/69307/who-killed-dcs-dockless-pedal-bicycles

Thanks for that. The maintenance/lifespan angle is very interesting, especially that both the Lime electric scooters and the Jump electric bikes seem to have an average service life of only a couple months,if I’m reading the later graphs correctly. (The author clearly states that initially the scooters averaged a service life of about three weeks.)

I’d love to see a comparison to CaBi, and a closer analysis of repairs vs replacements. While getting people out of cars has clear spatial benefits, I dislike the idea that these devices might be so disposable, which reinforces what I witnessed in California, with fatally wounded scooters lying about the sidewalks like mundane packaging litter.

[Starduster]

@peterw_diy 181754 wrote:

Thanks for that. The maintenance/lifespan angle is very interesting, especially that both the Lime electric scooters and the Jump electric bikes seem to have an average service life of only a couple months,if I’m reading the later graphs correctly. (The author clearly states that initially the scooters averaged a service life of about three weeks.)

I’d love to see a comparison to CaBi, and a closer analysis of repairs vs replacements. While getting people out of cars has clear spatial benefits, I dislike the idea that these devices might be so disposable, which reinforces what I witnessed in California, with fatally wounded scooters lying about the sidewalks like mundane packaging litter.

Well, this is the memory Ofo leaves behind, pretty much everywhere: [ATTACH=CONFIG]18450[/ATTACH] I gather the e-scooters are no better. This bothers me- it is just plain wasteful.

Curious- Have any of the abandoned/reclaimed dockless bikes shown up at a Local Bike Shop? Repairable? *Worth* repairing?

[Steve O]

@Starduster 181755 wrote:

Curious- Have any of the abandoned/reclaimed dockless bikes shown up at a Local Bike Shop? Repairable? *Worth* repairing?

A whole bunch of them have shown up in Crystal City/Pentagon City
https://www.arlnow.com/2018/09/28/mysterious-bike-artwork-evolves-in-pentagon-city-crystal-city/

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18451[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]18452[/ATTACH]

[lordofthemark]

City of Alexandria community survey on dockless mobility

https://survey.alexandriava.gov/s3/CommunityInputDocklessBike

[Judd]

It looks like Ofo is headed towards bankruptcy. Suppliers unpaid and enough customers asking for their fund balance back because bike unavailability that Ofo doesn’t have the cash flow to pay them all.

http://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/2179485/bike-sharing-firm-ofos-dramatic-fall-grace-warning-chinas-tech

[cvcalhoun]

@Judd 184266 wrote:

It looks like Ofo is headed towards bankruptcy. Suppliers unpaid and enough customers asking for their fund balance back because bike unavailability that Ofo doesn’t have the cash flow to pay them all.

http://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/2179485/bike-sharing-firm-ofos-dramatic-fall-grace-warning-chinas-tech

Well, Ofo is already gone from here. The only dockless bikeshares that have survived in this area are those that a) have switched to scooters, or b) offer e-assist bikes.

Right now, Jump is the biggest dockless bikeshare here. LimeBike also offers e-assist bikes. However, with the cap on the total number of bikes + scooters during the pilot program, and Lime’s emphasis on scooters, Lime is unable to have more than a few bikes. I am really hoping this pilot program ends soon, and Lime can have more, because it is the only dockless bikeshare that operates in Montgomery County as well as DC.

Does anyone have news on when the pilot program will end? It was originally April, then August, then “the end of the year,” and I haven’t heard anything since then.

[Judd]

@cvcalhoun 184268 wrote:

Well, Ofo is already gone from here. The only dockless bikeshares that have survived in this area are those that a) have switched to scooters, or b) offer e-assist bikes.

Right now, Jump is the biggest dockless bikeshare here. LimeBike also offers e-assist bikes. However, with the cap on the total number of bikes + scooters during the pilot program, and Lime’s emphasis on scooters, Lime is unable to have more than a few bikes. I am really hoping this pilot program ends soon, and Lime can have more, because it is the only dockless bikeshare that operates in Montgomery County as well as DC.

Does anyone have news on when the pilot program will end? It was originally April, then August, then “the end of the year,” and I haven’t heard anything since then.

Lime seems to have deployed heavier on the bikes in Arlington, which has a pilot that limits the number of vehicles.

DDOT just announced the companies that are participating in the 2019 permit program which should result in more vehicles overall. Most of them are scooters. Press release is here:

https://ddot.dc.gov/release/ddot-announces-operators-2019-dockless-vehicle-sharing-program

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[cvcalhoun]

@Judd 184270 wrote:

Lime seems to have deployed heavier on the bikes in Arlington, which has a pilot that limits the number of vehicles.

DDOT just announced the companies that are participating in the 2019 permit program which should result in more vehicles overall. Most of them are scooters. Press release is here:

https://ddot.dc.gov/release/ddot-announces-operators-2019-dockless-vehicle-sharing-program

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It looks like they are almost starting over with a whole new set of operators. HOPR is on the list, but when I download their app, it gives me a choice of three cities, none of which is DC. I can’t find an app for Ridecell at all. Riide says they are in Northern Virginia, but not DC, and if you download the app, it has options for cars but not bikes. Jump and Lime are the only ones left of the ones that started a year ago.

I hate electric scooters. I really hope the new program will make electric bicycles more available. And I miss having non-electric dockless bikes.

[secstate]

Jump is rolling out a new model with a few subtle changes: a smartphone holder for navigation, a QR code up front for unlocking rather than a keybpad on the back of the bike, a cable lock instead of a U-Lock, smarter internals for tracking performance and maintenance needs, and a battery that staff can swap out very easily. Their goal is to take these off the streets only once a year for maintenance rather than every time the battery needs changing. I wonder if this means the end of discounts or credits for docking bikes in a designated hub.

I ride these from time to time (including to the BikeDC happy hour this evening) and they are seriously perky, a ton of fun, and in a sane world would utterly eliminate short Uber/Lyft rides within the city.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/18/18144582/uber-jump-new-electric-bike-bikeshare-micromobility

[Judd]

@secstate 186069 wrote:

Jump is rolling out a new model with a few subtle changes: a smartphone holder for navigation, a QR code up front for unlocking rather than a keybpad on the back of the bike, a cable lock instead of a U-Lock, smarter internals for tracking performance and maintenance needs, and a battery that staff can swap out very easily. Their goal is to take these off the streets only once a year for maintenance rather than every time the battery needs changing. I wonder if this means the end of discounts or credits for docking bikes in a designated hub.

I ride these from time to time (including to the BikeDC happy hour this evening) and they are seriously perky, a ton of fun, and in a sane world would utterly eliminate short Uber/Lyft rides within the city.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/18/18144582/uber-jump-new-electric-bike-bikeshare-micromobility

The cable lock is a welcome change. The current system is a bid awkward and was hard to use if there was a bike in the other side of the rack.

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[TwoWheelsDC]

@secstate 186069 wrote:

Jump is rolling out a new model with a few subtle changes: a smartphone holder for navigation, a QR code up front for unlocking rather than a keybpad on the back of the bike, a cable lock instead of a U-Lock, smarter internals for tracking performance and maintenance needs, and a battery that staff can swap out very easily. Their goal is to take these off the streets only once a year for maintenance rather than every time the battery needs changing. I wonder if this means the end of discounts or credits for docking bikes in a designated hub.

I ride these from time to time (including to the BikeDC happy hour this evening) and they are seriously perky, a ton of fun, and in a sane world would utterly eliminate short Uber/Lyft rides within the city.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/18/18144582/uber-jump-new-electric-bike-bikeshare-micromobility

I hope they have sturdier seatpost collars! I’ve had problems with loose seatposts on a majority of the Jumps I’ve ridden. Of course I’ve tried to tighten them, but the nuts always seem to be stuck.

[cvcalhoun]

@Judd 186087 wrote:

The cable lock is a welcome change. The current system is a bid awkward and was hard to use if there was a bike in the other side of the rack.

I’ve found a lot of them not actually locked to anything, just with the U stuck back into the bike. That’s undoubtedly against the rules, but it does stop the bike from moving. And I don’t know how they would enforce the rule, since the next rider is unlikely to put in a complaint.

[Author]

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