I haven't seen any bike pile-ups as in China, and it's unlikely to happen in any event because these bikes just cost too much–they're build extremely sturdy. Th

I haven't seen any bike pile-ups as in China, and it's unlikely to happen in any event because these bikes just cost too much–they're build extremely sturdy. They also have GPS so it's quite easy to enforce rules about acceptable placement. What's more of a problem with a free-floating system is asymmetric use: people take public transport to get somewhere, but because it's late, or they're slightly drunk and in a good mood, or have more time than in the morning, they take a bike back home. That's what suck the initially free-floating system by "Deutsche Bahn". IF you're talking about bikes being left in the way of pedestrians, I haven't experienced it, and I'm sure you could get people to think a bit more if needed. In any case it's magnitudes less of an inconvenience as that currently created by cars. Considering that about 2/3 of people in central Berlin don't own a car, there's really no reason not to compare the status quo with city almost free of cars. It would be drastically different, as you could reasonably double the space available for the public: eliminate two lanes of parked cars, and make most streets one-way. Most traffic lights could be eliminated, biking speed would double without waiting for cars and red lights. There'd be space for almost anything, from small gardens to sports, right in front of your house.