GARLAND — A tool to broaden the connectivity of Garland's reinvigorated downtown core was unveiled last weekend: a small army of VBikes that didn't stray too far from their mother ship.

In the 15 years since the arrival of Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail, the city has created an urban neighborhood, with apartment residents helping to bring new life and nighttime vitality to the area around its downtown square.

Among the spoils of that success is that downtown Garland has pushed outward. Not everything is within walking distance.

Enter VBikes, rental bicycles that can be unlocked through the company's cellphone application. Though already on the streets in Dallas and Denton, VBikes is a Garland company. If the 45 that deployed Sept. 1 aren't enough, 10 times as many are sitting in a nearby warehouse.

1 / 2Rows of assembled VBikes, a rent-a-bicycle via downloadable app, are lined up in a Garland warehouse. The stationless bike sharing program features cycles that come unassembled from China. They are put together in the warehouse and those that are in disrepair are brought in from the field to be fixed.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 2 / 2A row of assembled VBikes, a rent-a-bicycle via downloadable app, are lined up in Garland. The bicycles come unassembled from China and are put together in the warehouse.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

From the thriving urban neighborhood, it's a half-mile to the new businesses on Main Street, three-quarters of a mile to Garland's most established churches, a mile to the city's historic residential district and 1.25 miles to Central Park. With VBikes, all become more doable.

So, too, perhaps is The Bankhead Station, a property recently bought and renovated by downtown Garland investor Robert Smith. The 68-year-old building is separated by train tracks from the downtown core. The rail line is a barrier to pedestrian activities, according to studies dating to before DART's arrival.

"VBikes could certainly make the difference between somebody coming across the tracks," Smith said. "I do think it's going to be a game-changer."

Crossfit isn't but a few blocks from Cristal Castillo's downtown apartment. But she'd been eyeing the bikes and on Wednesday incorporated a ride into her exercise routine. At the end, the bike gave her data on distance traveled and calories burned.

"Scan it in, unlock it, and you're ready to go. I did it in less than a minute," she said. "What a great post-workout cool-down."

1 / 2The app on a smartphone is used to unlock a VBike smart lock box on the rear tire of a bicycle. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 2 / 2VBike, a rent-a-bicycle via downloadable app startup, cost $1 per hour, (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

Mayor Douglas Athas cruised into a Wednesday night meeting at City Hall on a VBike. To him, the partnership represents a vision for downtown Garland, one that makes the area unique partly because it features products from within the city's own manufacturing community.

As a second-time VBiker, Athas was eager to share his growing confidence in the product.

"Someone told me the drive shaft would be harder to do. But I don't see that being true," Athas said. "The tire has no air. It's just cushion. I didn't notice any difference."

Flat-free tires and the lack of a chain make the bikes durable and safer said Shawn Ho, project engineer for VBikes. Bright yellow tires and built-in GPS make them less of a theft risk.

Athas wonders if VBike usage data could be beneficial to the city. Destination information isn't available by simply looking at where the bikes are in the morning because overnight, the company's rebalance crew picks up strays and returns them to high-traffic areas.

That same crew also swaps out damaged bikes, as some riders are rough on rentals. On Wednesday, a VBike was being curb-jumped outside a bar. Another sat unused nearby, still donned with streamers from the city's Labor Day parade two days before.

Three months after the launch in Dallas, the company hasn't been deterred from its mission to insert stationless bike sharing into the mass transit equation. But it has seen several attempts to game the system.

"Someone took the lock off this one. Then they painted it red," Ho said as he pointed to a bicycle in the repairs section of the warehouse. "The police still recognized it was ours."

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VBikes shares space at 3101 W. Miller Road with Massimo Motors, which specializes in all-terrain vehicles and utility task vehicles. Both companies were founded by David Shan and assemble units from parts shipped from Jiangyan City, China. A delegation from Jiangyan City visited Massimo and VBikes in July and signed a sister city agreement with Garland.

"You see where the bikes are on the app, and there's a giant glow where the warehouse is," Athas said. "And with any luck, that will get even bigger.

"The thing that will make downtown and Garland work is a retail product that no one can match."