Rise and Decline of Bike Share

Five Years Ago, Bike Share and Scooter Rental were Neck and Neck. Now Scooters FAR Outpace Bike Share

This is a fable for our times. It was just a bit more than five years ago that bike share programs really go going. I will use history from the Seattle Bike Blog (SBB) as illustrative of bike share.

The first SBB post on the subject was made on May 5, 2014. By August 25, 2014, the headline: 

"It’s really happening. Today, you can buy a membership for a Seattle public bike share system."

 Somewhat grumpily, I forecast, on July 29, 2014:

"They’ll later use our tax dollars to subsidize the bike share system when it fails due to their policies. Perhaps they’ll emulate NYC in outlawing large soft drinks and in arresting cyclists for imagined offenses."

 At this point, the system was run by Pronto, a subsidiary of Alta Planning. It used fixed bike stations and tried to work around the Seattle helmet laws in order to draw in casual riders who didn't happen to bring their own helmets along on the chance they might want to rent a bike. Before too long, this became a drain, leading them to charge for helmet rentals. On May 11, 2015, SBB reported:

"If you buy a 24-hour or three-day pass to use Pronto Cycle Share, you will now have to pay an extra $2 to check out a helmet."

It also became clear that the service area with bike stations was pretty limited, and, as a result, on June 8, 2015, SBB reported:

"...the biggest problem with Pronto is that the service area is simply too small to meet most people’s needs. And under the current business model, the system would expand slowly over time as more private sponsorship investments or city budget line items lead the way. It’s a plan that creates solid benefits for relatively little public investment, but it’s not a plan that can truly revolutionize transportation and low-income access to bicycling in Seattle. 

"That’s why the city has put together a visionary plan for a massive, fast expansion of Pronto that would increase the service area from five square miles to 42 square miles..."

Bike share was growing by leaps and bounds! However, cracks were beginning to appear. While Seattle proposed a massive expenditure to dramatically increase the size of Pronto, and (move in to management of Pronto as well), the Feds said "nope." By October 27, 2015, SBB reported:

"...the city still intends to move forward with an expansion. Mayor Ed Murray’s proposed 2016 budget includes $5 million for expanding Pronto. If that funding is approved by the City Council, the path forward really hinges on whether the city focuses on expanding the station area or on electric bike technology."

Scooters - Cheaper Than Ebikes, Faster than Pedal Bikes

Electric bikes - well that IS a new development indeed. Things went down a bit further, when, on February 4, 2016, the SBB post headline read:

"Pronto needs city buyout before end of March, how did we get here?"

And things continued downhill for the Pronto, station-based bike share. By October 10, 2016, SBB reported:

"Though it’s not final, Seattle has indicated that it intends to select a young Quebec-based company to launch an all-new electric-assist bike share system. 

"That means both Motivate, the current Pronto Cycle Share operator, and the existing Pronto equipment are out if the deal goes through. The city is now negotiating directly with Quebec-based Bewegen to finalize a deal."

Now, bikes were only a part of the solution if they were electric assist, though bike stations were still the fundamental backbone of the system. By October 20, 2016, the SBB headline read:

"Council faces a choice: Kill Pronto now or make lemonade out of the existing stations?"

There it was, bike share, at least if it wasn't "electric" was going away - and fast. In January, on the 13th, SBB headlined the final resolution:

"Mayor Ed Murray has scrapped his bike share expansion plan, ending the city’s efforts to create a new public e-assist bike system to replace the doomed Pronto system set to shut down March 31. This officially ends a frustrating era..."

And so it was. Bike share was dead in Seattle. A victim of inflexible docking stations, mandatory helmet laws, and bureaucratic meddling, just to mention three factors. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

On July 19th, 2017, SBB reported on the beginning of dockless bike share. Spin and LimeBike started operation and exceeded the old Pronto system ridership in their first week. They would have done better, but old city rules were still in place that presumed an "ease into the water" approach. The report of the death of bike share was greatly exaggerated. By December 15, 2017, SBB headlined:

"Bike share pilot’s daily ridership blows past Pronto’s lifetime totals, rivals both streetcars combined."

and, in that article, stated:

"...bike share services are already rivaling two streetcar lines that cost about $190 million to build is pretty incredible. Free-floating bike share services have cost the City of Seattle almost nothing. In fact, these companies pay the city permit fees. And at $1/ride, bike share is the cheapest way to get around other than walking or owning your own (not-high-end) bicycle. That’s far, far cheaper than other private mobility services, like car share, taxis and app taxis."

However, this was about the peak for bike share. Instead, the future looked like e bikes and scooters. On August 19, 2018, SBB reviewed the timeline. Notably:

"2018: Lime introduces 15¢ per minute e-bikes, Spin leaves town as it transitions to scooters and ofo leaves town as their China-based business begins imploding. Bike ridership in Seattle increases significantly, smashing bike counter records all over town. Uber-owned Jump joins Lime at the end of the year as the $1 pedal bikes disappear."

Lime Rental Scooter

Scooters are Getting Fancier

Which brings me up to the present. Recently, in downtown Dallas, I noticed scooters ALL OVER THE PLACE. All of them were electrically powered. There was not a single "regular" bike to be had. Things didn't look a whole lot different in Seattle. The story continues to evolve. As with bikes, it appears that many of the people who rent these electric scooters do not understand that they are really renting a small motorcycle and zooming along sidewalks and against traffic is really NOT a good idea. Perhaps our driver licensing system should start by ensuring that  prospective motorists understand that the rules of the road apply to ALL that use wheeled things on public roadways (sidewalks are also part of those roadways) and require people to demonstrate they can do so with scooters and bikes before they move up to more powerful vehicles.

But I digress. Over on SBB, they are arguing that the best thing to do is bring back the dock system, but spend a LOT more money and make the bikes cheap to rent. Somehow, I think most people want a motorized item that they can simply pick up wherever they happen to be. It's been 30 years since the Soviet Union fell...

After Renting, Many People Scooter Along the Sidewalk

Between Bikes and Cars

Chinese "Japanese Mini-Truck Parked at Hardware Store in Ocean Shores

This Mini-Truck Might be Owned by Ace

My loyal reader knows all about bikes and cars. In between those two sizes/types, we all know about All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) and Golf Carts. Justine Valinotti recently expanded our knowledge about electric bikes, with her post, here. However, beyond this, things seem to get complicated. For example, ATVs, electric bikes and Golf Carts are legal on roads - except sometimes they aren't. Even worse, the rules change from State to State and even from city to city. What's more, there are whole classes of vehicles that are in between bikes and cars that few of us know about or ever see. THESE are also sometimes legal on roads - and sometimes not. Even WORSE, sometimes the rules change depending on whether the vehicle is powered by gasoline or electricity. Even in a little place like Ocean Shores, there was a big debate over golf carts and what the rules were and "should they be allowed?" As in most things, the City Council went on to other things without taking action one way or the other.

Lately, I saw one of these at the local Ocean Shores Ace Hardware. It is a Mini-Truck, sometimes also known as a "Japanese Mini-Truck." Japanese Mini-Trucks, or Kei Trucks, are built many places other than Japan. The one I saw at Ace was built in China. Even after reading up on state laws extensively, it is unclear to me whether these would be street legal in Ocean Shores. Probably so, if the speed limit was 35 or less and it had a license plate. I guess a mini-truck is less dangerous than a golf cart that has lights and seat belts. Oddly, these would be allowed to go 10MPH faster in Texas than in Washington on the same road. Still, despite the odball local politics, these would seem ideal for a place such as Ocean Shores where low speeds and low traffic make the full array of safety equipment somewhat excessive.

Mini-Trucks do not Use all Safety Equipment Required on Cars. IIHS Does NOT Like That!

Note Lack of License Plates. The Website Has Been Abandoned by Mag Which is Out of Business
Parts for this Vehicle are now Problematic

Reconsidering Electric Bikes

Over time, I’ve been somewhat ambivalent about electric bikes. Doing a search, I noted them here and here. While I’ve never gotten enthusiastic about buying one, neither have I condemned them as a new form of “Spawn of Satan.” Lately, however, my opinion has been getting more strongly formed. Now, I’m strongly in favor of electric bikes, unless I’m against them. Either way, I’m less neutral. You see, this summer, a company started renting electric bikes in Ocean Shores, Washington.

On busy weekends, these guys might have a dozen or so electric bikes rented out at one time. The bikes “look like beach cruiser” bikes. However, they go LOTS faster. What makes me less ambivalent is that I notice the tourists that rent these things seem FAR MORE likely to act like they are operating a vehicle than the tourists that rent human-only-powered bikes. Commonly, the electric bike tourists control their lane rather than hugging the RH extreme of the roadway. Yup, they seem to pretty much ride in a manner that approximates "the line of sweetness." It makes me wonder since these people have not been through any sort of bike ed classes. They just feel comfortable using their legal rights to a “narrow” lane instead of hugging the road edge. I also have not seem them riding (illegally) the city sidewalks, also like a lot of the human-powered bikes. All of this SHOULD be goodness for those of us (well, at least ONE of us) here in Ocean Shores that operate using sound traffic principles. If that proves to be the case, there’s an upside to electric bikes that might help all other cyclists, and particularly be helpful in conditioning motorists to expect safe bike operation. Hurrah for electric bikes!!!!!

OTOH, like a lot of other small towns, one should remember that the government people of Ocean Shores expect bikes to operate at the EXTREME RIGHT of any road, as documented here. It’s the typical “from behind a windshield” bias against non-motorized road users, codified in a "for now" fuzzy manner. Should they decide to make new draconian ordinances, that might hurt cyclists that prefer to ride in accord with generally accepted “best practices.”

What will transpire? That determines whether I’m STRONGLY in favor of, or opposed to, electric bikes. I suspect that any stupid laws that the city might consider will, as their current cycling laws are, be almost universally ignored, in which case, I repeat “Hurrah for electric bikes!!!” Who’d have thought electric bikes might be a force for equitable treatment of all cyclists?

John Henry

Photo from Wikipedia

In the original story, John Henry was a steel drivin' man who took up against a steam hammer on the railroad to see if man or machine was best. The legend is recounted here (and many other places) for those that don't know it.

I don't ride my bike to work because its quicker than a car, or because it's cheaper. I do it because it's a way I can make a long trip under human power and derive satisfaction from doing so. On days I commute by bike, the high point is usually when I first see my work location appear as I crest the last ridge.

Electric bikes are being pitched as a way to make commutes easier than traditional bikes. I've looked at them, but, I think, I've got a bit of John Henry in me. I've not bought a motorcycle because I've never found a trip I'd want to take by motorcyle that I wouldn't also enjoy under my own power on a bike.

Thanks, but I'll stick with Buddy, and yeah, Buddy goes Point-to-Point, I'll take on one of those infernal machines, whether Segway or electric bike - and if it beats me, I'll take it on again. I'll get stronger and its battery will fade...