Lime-Green Dockless Bikes Haven’t Yet Been Deployed in Ocean Beach, Says Company’s General Manager

Dockless bike company reps – standing L to R: Kevin of Mobikes, Zack of LimeBikes and Anna of Ofo; also standing is chair Marcus Turner.

The general manager of the lime-green dockless bikes denied that they had launched in Ocean Beach.

Zack Bartlett, general manager of LimeBike San Diego, told the crowd at the Ocean Beach Town Council meeting Wednesday night his bikes have not been deployed in OB, that the green bikes people see are from Point Loma and other communities where they have been deployed.

A number of people present questioned this claim.

The OB Town Council had invited representatives of different dockless – or bikeshare – companies to make presentations and answer residents’ questions and concerns during a forum hosted by the Board during their regular monthly meeting at the Masonic Center.

Besides Bartlett of LimeBike, Board Chair Marcus Turner introduced Anna from Ofo bikes and Kevin from Mobikes – all three made their pitches – and answered some questions.

Anna had a 2-sided flier she passed out explaining how the bikes are used; Ofo hasn’t deployed in OB yet, she told the crowd. Ofo is the largest company, originating in China and having bikes in 20 countries worldwide and in 200 cities, including a bunch in the US.

Kevin said Mobikes hasn’t been launched in OB either. He said his company has 9 million bikes, their users have traveled 30 million miles, and they’re in 16 countries.

Bartlett added that LimeBike is the only American-based company and they’re in 50 cities.

But it was Bartlett’s claim that LimeBike hadn’t been deployed in Ocean Beach that brought the most reaction. Board member Gio Ingolia immediately questioned the assertion and stated that out of the blue the green bikes appeared around OB. Suddenly overnight, he said, “there were ten bikes neatly lined up at the corner of Niagara and Bacon,” plus a similar group the same time at the small Entryway Park at Sunset Cliffs and West Point Loma. Ingolia added, addressing Bartlett, “It doesn’t help that you won’t confirm it.”

Board member Jon Carr raised a couple of issues, as well. “What’s to prevent,” he asked,”after a special event in OB, that local groups will have to clean up all the bikes?” Examples were made of the Chili Cook-Off or the annual Street Fair, where thousands of people stream into OB – and with dockless bikes, many may be abandoned by their users. Anna from Ofo replied her company is working with local groups to prevent this type of situation.

Carr also reminded the audience dockless bikes “are not as important as STVRs [short term vacation rentals]” in terms of threatening Ocean Beach. “Let’s paint STVRs lime green,” he said, “to see how important STVRs are.”

It also turned out none of the bike companies have contacted the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association. CEO Denny Knox said, “We have merchants who rent bikes,” and “The OBMA hasn’t heard from any of you guys.” She then asked, “Are you coming to talk to us?” There were some verbal  commitments by a couple of the reps to do that.

Fox5 reported:

“We’re asking people just to bear with us and view the positives,” said Zack Bartlett, general manager of LimeBike San Diego.

Bartlett said LimeBike operates in Imperial Beach, National City and San Diego and has yet to launch in Ocean Beach. He said the bikes are tracked and picked up nightly and the bikes are to stay within the areas where they are launched, but often it depends on ridership.

“If one ends up in San Ysidro and it’s constantly getting rides then, by all means, we like to see that,” said Bartlett

Chair Turner skillfully guided the back-and-forth Q’s and A’s, as each response from one of the bike reps elicited more hands being raised with questions.

One OBcean in the back of the room raised safety as an issue with the bikes. He said an underage kid user had run into 2 people in their sixties and sent them to urgent care. “OB is clearly not a community for this program,” he said. The community is already very congested and it’s “hard to see the bikes at night.”

Kevin of Mobikes said there’s an emergency number on every bike and they’re available 24/7.

One woman complained of being knocked down by a scooter. None of the companies in the room have scooters. Someone asked “why dockless?” It makes the bikes more accessible and equitable, Kevin replied.

A couple of people asked about numbers of visitor users versus local users and more general figures now that the companies have been deploying their bikes for months. But no one had any numbers for San Diego. Anna of Ofo claimed in Seattle they found 50% of start and stops of their bikes were at transit stops.

There were more complaints of the bikes taking up public space or being left on private property. Board member Priscilla Turner offered that many complaints seem to be based on the users not being considerate.

Some discussion ensued when an audience member raised the point “there’s no repercussions to users for leaving bikes in the right of way or on private property.” Mobikes has a point system, Kevin explained, and penalizes users for bad parking, etc.

One person responded, “There are too many points given out. Infractions should be banned.”

However, Zack of LimeBikes said it’s too difficult to determine which user or who did the vandalism; they don’t wish to ban anyone unless it’s confirmed they were responsible.

A woman asked, “Are any of you giving money into the bike infrastructure?” This was met with silence, until Anna did say Ofo is sharing data with the city, and that can show the city where bikers are actually riding.

Another concern: are the bikes sanitized after each use? Anna said her bikes are sanitized when they go into maintenance. But it’s unclear how often that happens. The other bike reps failed to respond.

It happened today, someone said, at the Farmers Market. They saw a lime bike being used by a homeless person.

The response from the audience towards the dockless bikes was not all negative. One woman said, “The more bikes I see, the more people is see riding bikes, the happier I am.”

“This kind of service,” she added, “brings San Diego up in the world.”

One guy said, “I’m glad you’re here,” to the bike company reps. “[The bikes] cut cars from the road.” He continued that he’d been in China, in a city of 20 million and their bike program is working.

“People,” he said, “can be disrespect with any vehicle.”

Fox5 also reported:

Larry Gustafson, one of dozens of people who attended an Ocean Beach Town Council meeting Wednesday night, called the bikes a nuisance. “I think they should pick them up and return them to the same place,” said Gustafson, who has lived in Ocean Beach for 66 years. “We walk our dog down to Sunset Cliffs around the neighborhoods and you have to walk around the bikes,” Gustafson said. “My wife eventually is going to trip over one.”

Turner brought the questioning to a close with one last one of his own. “What have you learned from all the community meetings you’ve attended?”

Zack Bartlett – the LimeBikes guy – responded. They’ve learned about safety and cleanliness issues; and the effect on small businesses. “We’ve found it helps small businesses,” he said, “Businesses want them.”

Tell that, my friend, to Denny Knox.

Fox5