Whee more bikes

Dallas racks up more bicycles with new bike-sharing outfit from China

Hop on your Ofo and ride, baby ride.

Photo courtesy of Ofo

Yet a fifth bicycle-sharing company has launched in Dallas, dropping more than 1,000 yellow bikes into inner-city areas such as downtown and Uptown Dallas. Called Ofo, it's based in Beijing, China, and has a fleet of more than 10 million bicycles in 180 cities and 13 countries.

With 1,000-plus bikes, Ofo jumps ahead to become the biggest bike sharing provider in Dallas. It represents the company's biggest expansion in the United States so far. Go Dallas.

Like other bike-sharing companies, Ofo uses an app-based program that helps you find bikes nearby. The bikes have a QR code that you scan to unlock the bike and ride. When you reach your destination, you lock it manually to end the trip. The fee is $1 per hour.

Ofo has installed an operations team in Dallas to oversee maintenance-related functions including ensuring their bikes are parked in accordance with local laws and regulations; re-parking bikes if they're blocking right of way; redistributing bikes to address user needs; and cleaning and repairing bikes.

The company is hosting a free introduction period: You can ride the bikes for free until November 14. Meanwhile, on November 4, Ofo will host a launch party at Snyder's Union on the Katy Trail from 9 am-5 pm; there'll be swag, lemonade, and a photo booth.

Ofo follows the dockless format, which means that people can leave the bikes anywhere, versus the docking station system, where people must leave the bike at a set location. Docking stations cost cities money to install while dockless are free.

Docking stations can be less convenient to riders who might have to leave the bicycle somewhere not near their ultimate destination. But dockless programs end up with bicycles strewn across town, with a percentage of bikes being subjected to vandalism. Inner city neighborhoods such as Deep Ellum have seen bicycles pile up on sidewalks.

Ofo joins four other bike-sharing companies in Dallas:

VBikes, which has silver bikes, is the local company, based in Garland.
Limebike, which has green bikes, is based in California.
Spin, which has orange bikes, is based in California.
Zagster, which has white bikes, serves the University of Texas at Dallas campus only.

Ofo's yellow bikes add another color to the Dallas bicycle rainbow.

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Speeding ticket news

Texas drivers pay a pretty price for their speeding bad behavior

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

Gotta watch out for speed traps in Texas.

The next time you’re tempted to push past the speed limit on your Texas road trip or your commute to work, think about the risk to your life — and your bank account.

A new ranking from the FinanceBuzz website shows that when comparing all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Texas motorists pay the fourth highest amount in fines and court costs for going either 10 mph or 15 mph over the speed limit.

For a 10 mph-over-the-limit violation in Texas, the average fine and court costs total $223, according to FinanceBuzz. For a 15 mph infraction, the average speeding ticket will run you $245. Texas is one of only six states where a 15 mph-over-the-limit speeding ticket surpasses $200.

California ranks first in the 10 mph category ($234), and Nevada ranks first in the 15 mph category ($290).

If you’re slapped with a ticket for driving 40 mph over the speed limit in Texas, the fine and court costs are relatively low. At an average of $320, Texas sits at No. 21 on the FinanceBuzz list. Illinois ($2,500) leads the 40 mph category.

“Not all speeding incidents are the same, as the faster someone goes while driving, the more danger they pose to themselves and others sharing the road with them,” says FinanceBuzz. “As a result, the authorities tend to issue larger fines the faster a speeder is going.”

When traveling across Texas, it might be tough to go even one mph over the speed limit if you’re driving on I-35 in the Austin area or I-45 in the Houston area. Both of these notoriously congested stretches of interstate highway are nearing the end of their “functional life,” according to Congress of New Urbanism.

Three busy Dallas County highways were just deemed among the deadliest roads in the country, with I-30 in Dallas ranking as the fourth deadliest road in Texas.

Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio are also home to some of the state’s most congested roads, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. And if you’re on any of those clogged roads, the danger of getting a speeding ticket might decrease.

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