When I was a kid my bike was a magic pass to go anywhere, such as a friend’s house or to get snacks at the gas station. While I don’t remember not riding without training wheels, I am sure I learned how to ride when we lived on Thomas Nolan. And everyone knows the hardest thing about riding a bicycle is balancing the weight for the bicycle to remain centered.
When I say this video, I laughed about the prospect of a bicycle simply rolling down the road. What good would that be? Then I started thinking about my last visit to Antwerp when I saw the Velo bicycle stations all over town (https://www.slimnaarantwerpen.be/en/bike/renting).
While the bikes were ridden during the day, the bicycles were picked up and repositioned at night. If only the bicycles could reposition themselves, Velo would save the costs of crews going out to return these bikes to pickup centers. If only someone invited a riderless bicycle…
On a future visit, I may see empty bicycles shuffling between stations, or I call one to meet me at my hotel door. Once again, technology may transform what was once a parody into the commonplace.
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