from a previous post outside Shaw metro

“Dear PoPville,

My good and wonderful friend works downtown and is visually impaired. He recently advocated for DDOT to put audible walk signals to cross L street and 18th street NW. They came out and did this within two weeks. His daily commute has been significantly easier on him – except there is one more obstacle, dockless bikes and scooters. Next time you end your ride please don’t leave it in the middle of the sidewalk – it’s a challenge for people who are visually impaired/blind to have to walk around them. Let’s make DC an inclusive community for all!”

Please don’t tell this guy.

From DDOT:

“The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) issued fleet expansion permits to dockless operators in the District of Columbia. With the new permits dockless operators will add up to 300 bikes and 435 scooters. As of May 1, 2019, a total of 4,935 dockless vehicles will be permitted to operate in the District. Read More

Denis writes:

“Looks like Ofo and Mobike are out for good, Lime bikes have been replaced by scooters, and there’s no Spin bike anywhere.

Looking at the aggregate map on Transit, all that’s left are Jump bikes.

Disappointing!”

Thanks to all who sent from the Washington Post:

“Ofo is the first of seven operators in the District to pull out of the city’s dockless pilot program amid growing tension between the industry and city government. Operators, including Ofo, have said the District’s restrictions on the number of vehicles they can operate have hindered their ability to effectively serve the entire city and make a profit.”

Thanks to Amanda for sending from Woodley Park. Here’s to hoping everyone gets their water back soon. Smoke ’em if you got ’em and have a great weekend!

“Dear PoPville,

This question has been bothering my husband and I for weeks. While I know many are not fans of the dockless bike systems (limebike, ofo, etc) we both were. We don’t have space to store bikes and we loved being able to pick them up anywhere around our house in Dupont and drop them anywhere. So now the question, where have they all gone? It feels as if they have all been replaced by scooters but we are not in the market to be “scootbros”. We just want to be able to grab bikes at random around the city again, it felt like such a tease. Do you by chance know what happened with them? Is it just me or are they all being replaced by scooters?

Thanks for any information you can share with a former casual biker.”

You are right!! I can’t find it, (can anyone? Textdoc?), I saw a tweet a while ago saying that since the number of bikes and scooters are limited during DDOT’s Dockless Bikeshare Demonstration Period, that Lime decided to add more scooters since they were so popular. Since they added more scooters they had to reduce the number of bikes. Have others noticed a scarcity of the dockless bikes? What about the other companies?

From DDOT:

“The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) launched a new survey to get feedback about the dockless vehicle demonstration project that is currently being piloted in the District.

The survey is designed to get a better understanding of how the program fits in the District’s existing bikesharing system and the profile of current dockless bikeshare riders. The survey asks respondents to evaluate the program and provide their perspective as riders or non-riders, respectively. The survey will be open to the public until June 1, 2018. Read More

From DDOT on Friday:

“The District Department of Transportation today announced it will extend the Dockless Demonstration Project.

The pilot, which began in September 2017, will run through the month of August, allowing DDOT to continue to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and design dockless bikeshare management policies.

Dockless companies provide a new approach that enables bikeshare and scootershare systems to operate without physical stations. Instead, dockless systems use bikes or scooters that self-lock and can be accessed via smartphone apps. Such technology can expand transportation options in the District, and provide access in areas DDOT has not yet been able to add bikeshare infrastructure. Read More

“Rock Creek Conservancy volunteers posing with their trashy trophies at the end of a long day cleaning up Rock Creek.”

From Rock Creek Conservancy:

“It’s clear to us; the new dockless bike-shares are finding their way into Rock Creek more often than the fully dockable Capital Bikeshares.  We’re generally pro-biking here at Rock Creek Conservancy. So, we find ourselves faced with a tricky question. Could dockless bikes bad for our favorite lands and waters?

Rock Creek Conservancy volunteers spent the last weekend cleaning up Rock Creek during their Tenth Annual Extreme Cleanup. Volunteers worked at more than 40 sites throughout the Rock Creek watershed (with more than 60 throughout the entire month).
Read More

Like the White Whale of Brookland I had only heard whispers of the golden Ofo Mobike (even better!!) but that Gods have smiled kindly on us this week with not one but two sightings!! Thanks to Ricard for sending from Mount Pleasant (clearly they heard about Argyle’s new deli) and James from Van Ness.

Simply stunning.

Fascinating question from a reader: “I was curious if you have noticed fewer stolen personal bikes with the easily available rental/dockless bikeshare bikes?”

Obviously this will only be anecdotal – but have you guys noticed a change?