News of the demise of the Pronto! bikeshare system in Seattle broke in February, but by the end of the year, the city is expected to have the U.S.'s largest bikeshare network.
Matt McFarland reports:
Fewer than five months ago, Seattle shut down its struggling municipal bikeshare system that had been propped up with taxpayer dollars. But in the last month, three innovative bikeshare companies have launched in the city, quickly eclipsing the past failure.
According to McFarland, Seattle now has more bikes available, rides are cheaper, more rides are being taken, and the city government "will be receiving substantially more data on these bike trips, to better plan local transportation."
"By year's end, Seattle is on pace to have the U.S.'s largest bikeshare network. And all of this happened without a penny of taxpayer funding," adds McFarland.
So what was the magic ingredient that said voilà! instead of Pronto!? That would be privately owned and operated dockless bikeshare. Seattle was one of the first cities to allow such systems, in this case LimeBike and Spin, while other cities like San Francisco and New York have proven resistant to the idea.
FULL STORY: How Seattle morphed from bikeshare failure to industry leader in five months
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Public bikeshare arrived in San Diego in 2014. Last month, three companies unleashed thousands of dockless bikes, cluttering sidewalks in three business districts to the chagrin of merchants who want a time-out so the city can develop regulations.
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Two cities, of similar size (about 90,000 residents), and located in different corners of the country, unceremoniously dispatched dockless bikeshare pilots in recent weeks.
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