The latest craze over dockless bike and scooter sharing programs has taken the city by storm, filling the streets of San Diego with brightly colored bikes.
In the last two weeks, these dockless transportation businesses have been popping up almost daily--each with a catchy name, shiny bikes and scooters galore. Lime Bike, Ofo, Bird and Mobike are some of the first ones to hit San Diego, but even more are coming soon.
Up until recently, the city of San Diego had an exclusive agreement with DecoBike, a docked bike company. But the concept didn’t catch on as quickly as expected. The dockless bike phenomenon, however, has become all the rage in a very short period of time.
“They’re awesome. They’re amazing,” said Ricky Dugan, a resident of Little Italy. “I wish they were everywhere all the time.”
The way to use the bikes and scooters is similar for all the companies. You download an app and find a bike using a GPS. Then you can ride it anywhere, and drop it off at any location when you’re done. There are no pre-determined drop off locations, which is why they’re called ‘dockless.’
Although there has been chatter on some neighborhood apps like Next Door about the bikes clogging sidewalks and storefronts, NBC 7 couldn’t find one person who thought the bikes were a problem.
“It’s not noticeable to me,” said Daniel Lyon, a worker downtown. “A couple of them here or there. Not a big deal really.”
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However, one potential problem could be user safety. The apps require a valid drivers license and have a list of rules and regulations, but some users may fail to comply.
San Diego Police said they will cite drivers not wearing helmets on motorized bikes or scooters and users who are not using the bike lanes or riding on the sidewalk.
