Dallas

More Bike-Sharing Options Pedal Into Dallas

Another bike-sharing program has launched in Dallas. LimeBike brought in 200 bikes over the weekend, and it plans to bring in 500 more by this weekend.

LimeBike joins V-Bikes and Spin as bike-sharing companies vying for your business.

"In downtown, it's a higher priority than automotive transportation," said Dallas City Councilman Philip Kingston.

He stressed Dallas has big plans for bikes.

"We're building a Dallas for people who want to live in Dallas, and people who want to live in Dallas want to bike," Kingston said.

The bikes don't cost the city anything, and unlike other cities, Dallas' bike-sharing companies don't have docking stations.

They're also not regulated.

Using an app, you rent, ride and then park the bike where ever you end up.

"What Dallas gets out of it is wonderful economic development and tourism from having readily available bikes to people to ride," Kingston said.

Dallas resident Aelexus White tried one out Monday.

"I haven't rode a bike since I was younger," she joked.

Navigating around downtown Dallas, she quickly learned that bike lanes are hard to find. It's something the CEO of LimeBike, Toby Sun, noticed as well.

"I've seen people riding bikes, but I don't see a lot of bike lanes," Sun said.

His bikes are constantly gathering data, and the city could eventually use it to help map out the future of downtown transportation.

"We know where the bikes are, we know where people are riding the bikes to, what routes people are taking and what time," Sun said.

At a Dallas City Council committee hearing on mobility solutions on Monday, bike sharing was a hot topic.

There are still plenty of questions.

"My whole thing is, let's say I ride it somewhere and I go in to shop and I come out and there's no bike there anymore, because someone else wanted to rent it," said Councilman Adam Medrano.

Even in Texas, where we love our cars, it could be a sign of things to come.

City leaders say at least two other bike share companies have shown interest in joining the market.

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