Chicago's South Side dockless bike-share pilot is starting to shift into high gear, with yesterday's release of 50 LimeBike electric cycles with wheel locks, and 50 non-electric Pace bikes (from Zagster) with built-in cable locks, plus today's deployment of 50 Ofo non-electric, wheel-lock bikes. And word is that Jump Mobility will soon be releasing a fleet of electric bikes with built-in U-locks.
However, the jury is still out on whether Chicago's decision to confine the technology to parts of the city south of 79th (mostly outside the Divvy zone), limit the vendors to no more than 250 bikes each, and require all cycles to have cable locks or U-locks after July 1, is a smart strategy to protect the successful Divvy system, or a case of over-regulation.
Last night Peter Taylor, an Active Transportation Alliance board member and member of the South Side's Major Taylor Cycling Club of Chicago (and occasional Streetsblog op-ed writer) and I discussed the pilot on WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" program with host Phil Ponce. Watch the interview here.
If you're in a hurry, here are some of the topics we covered:
00:50: What is dockless bike-sharing?
02:35: How will it benefit the South Side?
03:40: Washington D.C. as a model for Chicago's pilot
04:20: Dockless bike fails, and why they might not be a big issue here
05:10: Educating the public about the program
06:10: What's it like to ride a DoBi?
07:00: What if someone messes with a bike after you park it?
07:25: Can you use the bikes without a smartphone?
