Swampscott fed up with discarded rental bikes

By adamg on Sat., 7/7/2018 - 10:57 am

WBZ reports officials in Swampscott called in officials from one of those rental companies that let you drop their bikes wherever and demanded action:

â€œOur biggest concern is the volume. They seem to be kind of popping up everywhere,â€ says Swampscott Police Lieutenant Gary Lord. He says the green bikes can become safety problems. â€œWith the bikes tipped over at times and just parking in the wrong spots, smack dab in the middle of a sidewalk,â€ he says.

Neighborhoods:

North Shore

Free tagging:

Bicycling

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Comments

Jesus take the wheel

By anon
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 11:00am

and change the record

Green bikes

By Anon
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 11:12am

If they are left on private property or on the sidewalk in the way of pedestrians, someone should pick them up and throw them in a dumpster. They are litter.

This is Massachusetts, only

By anon
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 12:17pm

This is Massachusetts, only cars can park on the sidewalks.

Again, if you see a car

By anon
Sun, 07/08/2018 - 8:38am

Again, if you see a car parked on the sidewalk then call the police so it can be towed. Stop complaining about it if you're too lazy to do something about it.

Abandoned rental bikes should be given to kids who don't have enough money to buy their own. The entitlement of leaving a perfectly good bike left out as garbage wherever you damn well please astounds me.

Again, i have reported cars

By anon
Sun, 07/08/2018 - 1:08pm

Again, i have reported cars parking on and blocking sidewalks repeatedly and the city/police do nothing.

Two Things

By Elmer
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 1:15pm

The bike share companies need to be more responsible about gathering and redistributing bikes which have strayed into unwanted places. Every bike has a tracking device to facilitate this. It's how users find the bikes, so there's no excuse for the companies not taking time to better manage the bikes' locations.
âŸâŸâŸ
There needs to be more designated bike parking spots for everyone. If the cities can allocate half of most public ways to motor vehicle parking, they certainly can find a little space on every block to allocate for bicycle parking.

Dockless bike shares are so new, everyone is still in the learning curve. There are still a few bugs to be worked out to make everything work smoothly, but nothing that can't be solved. Of course, the bike-hating people believe otherwiseâ€” yet, their solution is destruction of property, which only proves they're not very bright.

Well said, Elmer.

By Lee
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 1:30pm

Especially #2.
Thanks.

Residents Can Help By Reporting Areas Where Bikes Are A Problem

By Elmer
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 5:44pm

Those should be the first streets where motor vehicle parking is reduced to make room for designated bicycle parking.

Please say "Bike Rental"

By anon
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 2:48pm

We already have a term for it. "Sharing economy" is being abused by marketers, to put a favorable face on ignoring regulations, exploiting workers, etc.

I agree

By cybah
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 6:51pm

There needs to be more designated bike parking spots for everyone. If the cities can allocate half of most public ways to motor vehicle parking, they certainly can find a little space on every block to allocate for bicycle parking.

However, I've tried and tried this with Chelsea City Council and I get told no. GRRRRR It only works if the pol's want it to.

I know two things:

By UHub-fan
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 2:51pm

1) I'm in favor of more people on bikes

2) LimeBike has converted our daily neighborhood strolls into a citrus-colored obstacle course.

I've never seen anyone riding

By PeddlingThought
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 9:22pm

I've never seen anyone riding them. They seem to be abandoned in front of random houses on side streets. Then they disappear and never return to that spot, as if someone tried it and the novelty wore off, rather than a daily commuter found a new method. They're not really an eyesore, but it's unnatural seeing things left outside. Similar to abandoned furniture. It's a nice piece, but it doesn't belong there.

This can be a big source of

By anon
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 3:34pm

This can be a big source of revenue for the city. If it is left on city property, they take a picture, ticket it and put it in storage with a daily storage fee. The company gets it back when they pay up. If I found it on my property, they would never see it again. Problem solved.

Scrappers

By cybah
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 6:52pm

I know they have GPS in them (this is how the company finds and moves them) but that can be disabled with a hammer :D

But I am surprised the scrappers haven't picked them up yet for scrap...

sure..

By anonn
Mon, 07/09/2018 - 10:27am

..if you "found" it on your property and it disappeared, guess who would be charged with theft? Hint: not the city.

Ant is the official bike share company for Lynn

By Ron Newman
Sat, 07/07/2018 - 10:33pm

I don't know if they are also 'official' in neighboring Swampscott.