I've never used one myself but I've seen a lot of criticism of the Chinese implementation of dockless shared bikes. Here's a video that summarizes the problem: ▶ this video (you only need to watch a few minutes to get the idea) The purpose is to have them everywhere so they're easy to find, but that's also the problem -- if you have too many companies involved, or an irresponsible company involved that just dumps bikes in the city, there are too many bikes. Bikes get left on sidewalks, in streets, in parks, etc. The docked bike share systems don't have that problem because you have to return them to a designated location, but obviously it makes the bikes less ubiquitous. Portland has a pretty good system where there are many stations, but if a station is full you can lock it at a nearby public rack for free (the station knows it's full). You can also drop it off at any random public rack in the service area for $2. The app tells you where all the available bikes are: [link]
in “Uber Bike – A New Way to Commute or Explore” · View on HN