Spin, Vbikes or Limelight?

An unusually temperate September in Dallas has allowed me to explore yet another asset class in the shared - asset economy made available by the power of the internet: bicycles. While it might seem that southern cities would be great venues for bicycle transit, they are infrequently seen. There are several reasons for this: 1) with low volumes, cars don't expect bikes and the resulting "blind spots" can be harmful to the riders' health, 2) with low volumes, there are few places where bicycling is easy, 3) bicycles can be stolen easily while parked outside, 4) bicyclists tend to be about exercise and not utility so the emphasis is whizzing by wearing tight spandex panties, not getting to work. All of this may change.

Thus far, I am excited about the prospects of this bicycle rental approach. It is easy to find a bike. The app shows clearly where they are and there are numerous choices within a block of places I go. Next, it is easy to rent. I just hold the phone over the image of a number and it identifies the bicycle and unlocks it. It is cheap to rent. It is a $1 per hour. Hard to beat that. Next, someone stealing the bicycle while I am gone is no longer an issue. When I lock the bicycle, I go off the rental and it is no longer my problem.

The only glitches that I am experiencing are likely to be ironed out or the service won't work. The first glitch is that many of the bicycles already need some kind of maintenance work. This has to be done or the prospect of unreliability will make this service an occasional fun idea, rather than part of a daily routine. Second, vbikes has no seat adjustment and somehow has concluded that 5 foot tall is the appropriate standard height. Third, weird technology things happen - such as when I locked the bicycle so that it kept charging me because it wasn't locked and yet I couldn't get another bicycle because the one I had was supposedly being used by me. I could give a few other examples, but there is no way to get help. The apps direct you to someone who may call in the next hour.

Progress not perfection!