Amsterdam Fights Back Against Rogue Bike Shares

Even Amsterdam can get sick of bikes, it seems. The Dutch capital may have a reputation as the world’s most bike-friendly city, but this week it launched a campaign to get a major group of two-wheelers off its streets.

So-called “rogue bike shares” are now in the city’s crosshairs, accused of clogging up valuable bike parking space at the expense of local cyclists. The city announced this week that it intends to ban these private rental companies, which park bikes around the city for customers to rent via smartphone apps. Unlike traditional bike-share programs, these ones don’t have dedicated docks for parking and they don’t coordinate with the government to offer service around the city. Even though the rogue bike-share concept has been widely questioned as problematic, most cities might consider it a good thing to have an easy supply of rental bikes on every corner. For Amsterdam, it risks becoming a nightmare.