Six months ago Dallas had over 20,000 bikes spread throughout the city. Now only a fraction of that amount remains on Dallas streets as electric scooters have become a more popular mode of "last mile" transportation.
Joann Flores of Garland came upon four scooters she wanted she and her family to try out on Sunday in downtown Dallas. "I'm just trying to unlock it and put in my credit card information," Flores said.
She says it was the first time she's ever tried using a rental bike or scooter of any kind. "I personally have never tried the bikes," Flores says.
And perhaps that's part of the reason why Dallas is down to just 3500 bikes, according to the city. Chinese companies Ofo and Mobike pulled out of town within the last few weeks and San Francisco based Spin did the same earlier this week.
So where do all those bikes end up? Ofo has picked up bikes from around the city and sent them to recycling facility just south of downtown.
“As we wind down select markets, we remain committed to environmental sustainability and will continue to donate Ofo bikes in good working condition to local communities and recycle all bikes when they're beyond repair or no longer able to use," the company said in a statement.
A Facebook post that picked up more than 200 shares over the weekend commented on the apparent waste of scrapping so many bikes.
However, Ofo told WFAA it is donating bikes in good condition to City Square in Dallas and Bikes for Tykes in Tarrant County.
Ofo did not inform the city of Dallas of its decision to leave or how it would remove the bikes.
Council member Lee Kleinman said he wouldn't wade into a private business's decision.
"I'm glad Ofo kept their promise to remove the bikes and not leave it to the city to clean up," he said.