‘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

  • Asecap Days 2023: Data drives the best decisions
    December 22, 2023
    Almost all the data being collected by highway operators is going to waste. But if firms collect and analyse these ‘vast lakes of data’ they can investigate threats, monitor management systems and drive up revenues, delegates were told at Asecap Days 2023. Geoff Hadwick reports
    Read More
  • Emissions reductions targets to have major impact on transport
    October 28, 2015
    As bold moves aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions have been introduced in California, David Crawford looks at the ramifications for transportation. California Governor Jerry Brown’s recent dramatic raising of the bar on emissions reduction policy for the state has won him praise from Japan, Australia, Europe and the secretariat of the critical UN conference on climate change being held in Paris in November/December 2015. His April 2015 executive order aimed at bringing emissions to 40% below 1990 lev
    Read More
  • Dallas launches ICM program
    August 28, 2013
    Transportation officials in the Dallas area are to introduce an Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) along the 28-mile US 75 from the city to its northern suburbs. ICM works by collecting data about traffic conditions, then sending it through software that can analyse the data and help operators select the best strategies for managing it. A web interface ensures all the relevant agencies working on the corridor are aware of what is happening. Commuters will be advised of the situation via a new website
    Read More
  • MaaS Market London: Top names debate local authorities’ digital dilemma
    January 16, 2019
    Key players in the transport sector will debate the challenges faced by local authorities worldwide from new digitised platforms such as Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in a dedicated session at ITS International’s 2019 MaaS Market Conference in London this March. Taxi-hailing apps have already demonstrated the disruptive nature of new digitised transport services. As a result, some local authorities have struggled to retain control over issues such as traffic management and the vetting of taxi drivers and
    Read More

Highlighted Content