‘We should have binned dockless bikes earlier,’ admits Dallas transit boss

Micromobility innovations such as dockless bikes have been welcomed by users – but in many cases have been dreaded in the cities where they have been launched, as abandoned bicycles and scooters have caused problems for local residents.
March 22, 2019 Read time: 1 min

It is not just that the mess is unsightly - pavement clutter has already been the subject of lawsuits from disability rights groups.

Speaking at ITS International’s MaaS Market conference in London this week, Gary C Thomas, executive director, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), was asked to highlight initiatives which have been unsuccessful on his watch. “We should have jettisoned dockless bicycles before we did,” he admitted.

While the authorities are keen to create an open culture in Dallas to innovation, it was proof that not everything can work unchecked.

“It was really that free market approach,” Thomas told delegates. “Within a matter of months there were five companies and 25,000 dockless bikes. They were in front of our trains and littering platforms. In a year they were totally gone. You can’t find them now.”

Mass Transit & MaaS

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Vivacity demos AI junction control
    March 18, 2021
    How will AI-controlled junctions help smooth the journeys of drivers – and cyclists - in urban areas? Alan Dron looks at an expanding scheme in Manchester, UK, which aims to find out
    Read More
  • Ken Leonard talks to ITS International
    August 21, 2014
    Ken Leonard, director of the USDOT’s ITS Joint Program office made time in his schedule during the Helsinki Congress to speak to ITS International. It has been 18 months since Ken Leonard took over as the director of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office at the US Department of Transportation. With 30 years of technical experience behind him, to say he is enjoying the challenge would be to put it mildly: “It is incredibly exciting to be working in intelligent transportation systems, th
    Read More
  • Comprehensive communications combats tolling resistance
    May 19, 2017
    Toll road operator must provide clear, comprehensive and consistent communications to user groups and the local community long before the facility opens. When new tolled highway infrastructure is about to go into service, the construction, management and finance specialists who brought it into being are about ready for a well-deserved celebration. But for the communications and outreach team responsible for building public support for the project – for bringing drivers to the road, and keeping partners and
    Read More
  • Opinion: Have we missed our moment to reinvent mass transport?
    September 16, 2020
    We need to focus on providing better mass transportation services during the COVID-19 pandemic - and work out how to help travellers to rapidly regain confidence in using them as lockdowns end
    Read More

Highlighted Content