I realize that this is some kind of social experiment being perpetrated against the public (because, WHO really invests hundreds of thousands of dollars on handing out bicycles to the general population and thinks they are going to get satisfaction knowing they are helping people get healthy?) without considering the human equation of people being able to ruin it for everyone else?

Simply put; I feel like the idea has merit, but when you consider the fact that Phoenix is in the middle of a proverbial frying pan, and not geared to be ethnogenic like China or Sweden (where people frequently use bicycles over motorized transportation) you had better expect vandalism and mischief. If you give something like the ride-share program to people, there is always going to be a certain level of miscreant behavior perpetrated.

The social experiment comes into play by being able to stealthily track the types of users, where the bikes are used more, and where the bikes are most likely to be damaged, stripped, or otherwise rendered unusable. I’m sure there is an app that is used to ‘rent’ the bikes and the source of payment has got to be a credit or debit card which is linked to your bank accounts which are linked to your home address which is linked to your employment which is linked to your ethnicity (because we all checked that box) and so on and so on. It’s not just Cambridge Analytical that is collecting your information – anywhere you use your debit/credit cards is too. These ride-sharing companies are doing this (in my opinion) to find out how many people are going to use the system and how many are going to abuse it; and they are finding out the demographics about these people too.

Just some food for thought. Think before you hop on one. Somewhere, someone is always going to have access to your info.

When the bike is reported the company picks it up within 24hours.