Shared bikes don't work out even under good circumstances

See Smart People Can Be Slow Learners by E. Frank Stephenson of "Division of Labor."

"Yet another example of a failed open access bike program comes from Davidson College. Some key graphs:

Why was such a useful and popular program discontinued? Unfortunately, it appears that the strong Davidson sense of honor and responsibility wavered when it came to these bikes.

"They were stolen, damaged and some were even thrown off of buildings," Jeannie Kinnett '12 said. "Since there were no repercussions for damaging them, and no way to ensure their maintenance, the Activities Tax Council decided that funding them this year would not be worth it since they would be trashed anyway."

There were efforts by Davidson Outdoors and other organizations to improve student treatment of the bikes, but this was largely ineffective. They were being damaged and stolen faster than they could be repaired or replaced.

"I once found one on the side of the road on Main Street," Samanvitha Sridhar '14 said. "I tried to ride it, but the tires were completely deflated, so I fell. It was pretty awful, and after that, I avoided the bikes because they all seemed to be in bad condition or broken." One bike was even found in a drug bust."

Click here to read the article from the Davidson school paper