A new wave of dockless bike-share startups want to revolutionize cycling, but they?ve already faced regulatory issues in the U.S. New transportation startups enabled by the ubiquity of smartphones want to change the way you move throughout your city. As they begin operations, their revolutionary business models run into resistance from cities that are skeptical of their promises and worried about their impact. Sounds like an Uber and Lyft redux, right" But this time, the new technology comes on two wheels.
The rise of dockless, or stationless, bike-share systems?which allow users to find and check out free-roaming bikes with a smartphone and leave them anywhere they want once they finish their trip?can help expand the benefits of biking without the financial overhead, according to proponents. ?Bikes are like a city?s best friend,? says Rob McPherson, a cofounder of Baas Bikes, a D.C.-based company promoting dockless technology for college campuses. ?This could be the next big evolution in public transit, if done well.?

Spin
Spin dockless bikes in Austin. The startup launched a new, station-free bikesharing system in the city in March

Picking up where traditional bike-share systems, such as Divvy in Chicago, left off, these stationless systems, connected and controlled with GPS and mobile tech, deliver a more ?frictionless? experience (to borrow a phrase from the startup world, which is beginning to invest in the technology?LimeBike...