You’ve probably noticed them in some neighborhoods around San Diego. Maybe you’ve even used them. If you need to get around without a car and without having to walk and don’t want to pay a lot of money, you may be interested in using them.
They only started showing up in San Diego a few weeks ago but are already pretty popular. But they’ve also become very controversial.
They are the new brightly colored yellow and green bicycles that you rent with a smartphone app that you don’t have to return to a docking station or anywhere. When you’re done riding around on them, you just leave them there, wherever “there” is.
And that has led to some unintended consequences, a growing controversy and some unhappy business owners. All of which city officials may not have anticipated.
The people who own and operate shops or restaurants or maybe just live on a busy street are having to deal with these colorful bikes left by some of the people who rent them just sitting right on the sidewalk in front of their business or home, sometimes several of them.
While the city does have laws about businesses not blocking sidewalks or the public right of way, so far, it hasn’t stopped the problem.
For some in San Diego, whatever problem there may be….it’s not as big a problem as it is a solution.
Those worried about the problems of traffic or air pollution or the cost of transportation, the idea of these dockless bikes is seen as a way to help reduce some of those problems.
One thing’s for sure. If dockless bicycles are a problem, it makes you wonder what will happen when driverless cars are all over the road.
(Photo credit 10News)