With dockless bikes of every color and style \u2013 along with motorized scooters \u2013 seemingly everywhere all at once, the Ocean Beach Planning Board invited representatives from the companies to its March 7 meeting to answer questions about the businesses \u2013 as communities try to find a solution to regulate the vehicles.
\nRepresentatives from two of four local dockless vehicle-sharing companies \u2013 Bird and Ofo \u2013 attended. LimeBikes was invited but was a no show. Mobike is another recent market entry.
\n“The intent of this forum is to talk about the rollout of these new bike programs, so we\u2019ve reached out inviting speakers from the companies to answer questions about policy, infrastructure, safety and other concerns,” said OBPB chair John Ambert.
\nCarl Hansen spoke for the black-hued electric, stand-up Bird scooters, which are increasingly dominating the coastal landscape. Hansen said Bird and competitors are offering something new and different.
\n“We want to provide as many options to gas-guzzling, carbon-generating cars as possible that are dockless and easily accessible,” said Hansen. “We need to make sure these new transportation choices are convenient, while being thoughtful about how we interact with the communities.”
\nAnna Wan Christie, of the yellow Ofo bikes, billed as the world\u2019s original and largest station-free bike-sharing platform, which is in more than 20 countries, talked about bikeshare\u2019s purpose.
\n“We want to provide that first- and last-mile transportation for people to get them out of their cars for the good of the environment,” said Wan Christie. “We want to be good neighbors with everybody.”
\nDockless bikes are operated and locked by a smartphone app that employs GPS technology. Operators said all they are required to have, to be legal, is a city business license. Dockless bikes currently cost approximately $1 to $2 per-hour to rent.
\nBoth dockless reps responded to criticism their products are strewn helter-skelter making them eyesores and safety hazards. The reps claimed their bikes are picked up each evening after-hours, stored centrally off-street, then redistributed early the next day.
\nOBPB was split on its attitude toward the new dockless vehicles. Some members were receptive to them in principle. But others, like Richard Aguirre, were sour on the new alternative-transportation mode.
\n“You [bike share operators] don\u2019t pay taxes like brick-and-mortar businesses that you\u2019re coming in and competing with, crushing them and putting them out of business,” Aguirre said. “We need our small businesses. “We don\u2019t need corporate bike-share coming in here fleecing our community. You\u2019re trying to take over the whole market. That\u2019s not the way it should be. I hope someone stops you vultures.”
\n“It costs a lot to buy and maintain bikes. These dockless rentals are undercutting guys like myself,” said a traditional beach bike shop owner from the audience.
\nBoard member Craig Klein didn\u2019t see how the dockless business model can be sustainable.
\n“This tech stuff, $1 an hour \u2026 It just doesn\u2019t seem like your investors are going to get their money back,” Klein said.
\nKlein also asked why dockless providers weren\u2019t concerned about their bikes being stolen \u2013 or scavenged in coastal communities where bike theft is rampant. Wan Christie, of Ofo, said theft of GPS-tracked bikes hasn\u2019t thus far been an issue.
\nAfter an unsuccessful motion to ask the city to restrict dockless bike share rentals to locals, OBPB opted instead to ask the city for a tentative timeline on crafting a new set of regulations governing their operation. They also voted to present the city with recommendations to reign in dockless bike share programs.
\n“I\u2019ve got a whole list,” said Ambert.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With dockless bikes of every color and style \u2013 along with motorized scooters \u2013 seemingly everywhere all at once, the Ocean Beach Planning Board invited representatives from the companies to its March 7 meeting to answer questions about the businesses \u2013 as communities try to find a solution to regulate the vehicles. Representatives from two […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":277590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Ocean Beach wants more regulations for dockless vehicles","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}