The Minneapolis Plan to Tame Dockless Bike Sharing

Minneapolis is moving forward with a plan to bring dockless bike sharing to the Twin Cities. Nice Ride MN hopes to avoid the problems that have cropped up with dockless bikes in other cities, including vandalism and sidewalk clutter. Andrew Small explains:

Now a new pilot proposal in Minneapolis is attempting a hybrid between docked and dockless systems. The nonprofit Nice Ride MN wants to add 1,500 dockless bikes to its existing docked network. The key feature is a low-tech but intuitive fix for keeping free-range bikes under control: put down some damn parking spots.

The designated parking will be easy to install, low cost, and decidedly simple, using just tape and signage. While some of the parking will be next to existing docking stations, the real advantage is the ability to fill in the gaps in the network and expand to currently underserved areas. The expansion will also be substantial. After the initial 1,500 dockless bikes are added to the 1,700 docked ones, bikes will be added annually with a plan to have 7,700 bikes in the system by 2021.