3 companies now offering bike sharing in Dallas

DALLAS - Bike sharing is a popular transportation option in a lot of cities. But it wasn’t really available in Dallas until recently. Now three competing services are hoping the concept will catch on.

You can find the brightly colored bikes all over the place, many just parked on the sidewalk. If you see a bike out on the street, it’s yours. After a couple of clicks on an app, the bike unlocks and then you’re on your way.

You don’t have to bring it back to where you found it or check in. Some services do require a refundable deposit, but others don’t. The cost averages around $1 an hour and everything is done via GPS and Bluetooth.

More than 50 cities across the country already have similar bike sharing services. There are five in Texas, including Fort Worth. Dallas is new to the idea and has been a little slow in accepting it.

But it doesn’t really cost the city anything other than the bikes being a possible nuisance. Often the bikes are left just sitting along a sidewalk.

On Monday Dallas leaders plan to come up with a happy medium in terms of regulation. How many is too many? Where do you put them? How do you make sure they’re not in the way of pedestrians?

So far none of the three bike sharing companies in Dallas have partnered with the city.