Life on Two Wheels
Little fanfare preceded the arrival of bike-share kiosks in many San Francisco neighborhoods last year. The bright blue bicycle stations seemed to appear overnight, quickly drawing the ire of some residents in areas like the Mission District. The concept of an appbased bike-share program seemed to skeptics like yet another sign of gentrification, another sign of tech taking over.
In angry response to this new bike-share presence, some of the shiny new Ford-branded bikes were set on fire and kiosks were splashed with paint. But despite the vandalism and backlash, the Ford GoBikes appear to have settled into town for good.
The bicycles are operated by a Brooklyn-based company called Motivate, but Ford Motor Co. paid a reported $49 million for the bikes’ Bay Area branding rights in an effort to associate its brand with emerging forms of mobility
