Bike and scooter stations have become a ubiquitous part of the fabric of our city streetscapes over the past decade, while building significant efficiencies into the complexity of running a reliable bike and scooter system. Lyft’s in-house Industrial Design and Hardware Engineering teams in San Francisco came together to produce the Pillar dock, a product that is both familiar and cutting-edge.
“Improving on the simplicity and elegance of the original is not something that we approached lightly, conscious that they’re a piece of street furniture that could endure 10 years or more. We tried to create something that would feel timeless and iconic, very similar to a mailbox or a fire hydrant or a parking meter,” said Erik Askin, Industrial Design Lead for Lyft Transit, Bikes and Scooters.
The Pillar dock was designed with sustainability in mind. The bollard forms are made from 10” laser cut steel tubing manufactured for gas and oil pipelines, beginning a transition from an industrial process that creates a product for fossil fuel use to one that is powered by clean energy and supports low-carbon transportation. The independent configuration has solar panels on both sides, with extremely low power consumption. When the stations are connected to the electric grid, the Pillar dock will charge ebikes and scooters that are parked.
“Stations bring order to the streetscape, provide predictability for riders and create climate-friendly in-station charging potential that will keep ebikes and scooters available. We’ve seen the effect they’ve had on cities over the last ten years and we’re confident our new model has the improvements needed for stations to continue to thrive over the next ten years,” said Caroline Samponaro, VP of Transit, Bike and Scooter Policy at Lyft.
The Station Infrastructure The Cities Need
Street Tested: Updated materials, better-protected internal components, and a hardened design means increased resistance to corrosion and rust, less frequent maintenance and a longer lifespan.
Sustainable: Vastly reduced power consumption and solar panels attached to the bollard’s battery means each bollard is fully self-sustaining. It can go months – or in most cases years – without the need for human interventions like a battery swap.
Charging Capable: Bollards will be able to charge docked ebikes and scooters when they are connected to the power grid, increasing vehicle availability and reducing the need for bike and scooter battery swaps.
Modular: Smaller and more flexible installations of as few as one bollard are now possible so cities have us deploy them almost wherever they want them because they no longer require a central kiosk to function.
A Dock to Delight Riders
Easier Docking: Completely redesigned locking mechanism that requires significantly less physical effort and will dramatically reduce failed attempts to end a trip.
Reliable: Each bollard can talk to the cloud and has both its own battery and solar panels, virtually eliminating instances of an entire station going out of service.
Intuitive: Flip dots and a speaker are replacing the LED lights, creating a user experience that’s easier to see and understand, even for first-timers.
Flexible: Existing keys and cards will unlock vehicles with the new bollard. It can also accommodate both current and future docked bike and scooter models.
