A rainbow of bicycles likely is coming to Houston sidewalks soon, so long as the yellow, green, orange and gray bikes do not get blacklisted by a skeptical City Council.

Houston officials are poised to open the city to at least six dockless bike-sharing companies that will distribute the readily-available cycles throughout the 11 council districts - something council members stressed is a priority.

"There needs to be good saturation," said District K Councilman Larry Green, chairman of council's Transportation, Technology and Infrastructure Committee, which discussed the bikes on Monday.

Green, among others, bemoaned Houston's recent history of focusing cycling initiatives on the city's core, and not expanding those efforts to neighborhoods, particularly south and east of downtown.

Dockless bike sharing, unlike Houston's current B-Cycle bike-sharing system which uses kiosks around the region, allows a user to check out a bike wherever they locate one with a smartphone and simply leave it wherever they responsibly can do so. The bikes have a self-locking mechanism that people can operate with their phone.

Rates typically are around $2 per hour, though companies also offer monthly subscriptions that allow for unlimited trips within a 60-minute period. Payment is made through the phone, via credit card; companies also are experimenting with cash systems that could allow someone to pay, similar to telephone calling cards.

Bikes can be located on a map, as all have GPS systems built into them, allowing the companies, and potentially the city, to assemble a huge trove of information on people's general riding habits, where bikes are most needed and what routes people travel.

The city's Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department is crafting the rules, with input from the companies, which have launched in a handful of U.S. cities, including Dallas. Companies would be required to carry insurance, and would be bonded for liability should the city incur expenses if riders ditch the bicycles or they clutter streets.

Officials said the regulations would start with a year-long test period.

Supporters say the bikes can be a powerful tool in helping people move around the city, especially in areas where bicycling can provide an easy connection to transit.

"Increasing density in the urban core requires the city look at alternative modes of transportation," said Maria Irshad, who oversees ParkHouston, the city's on-street parking program.

The effort drew praise from some council members.

"This is a futuristic approach and that's good," At-Large Councilman Jack Christie said, noting the popularity of biking in many world cities. "We have to have solutions to traffic and this is one of them... You can only pour so much concrete."

'Urban detritus'

Though supportive of the concept, the idea of thousands of bikes parked along Houston streets and on sidewalks - where the city has sidewalks - left some council members concerned.

"I am really concerned about how bikes can become what I call urban detritus, truly blocking the street and looking like junk," said At-Large Councilman David Robinson.

Irshad said the city rules would require bikes to be parked where someone in a wheelchair still can access the sidewalk and not impede the entrance or exit to a business. Companies also are considering programs in which bikes are directed to bike racks or designated spots, especially in high-traffic areas.

Enforcement would occur via the city's ParkHouston staff, which already monitor on-street parking.

District I Councilman Robert Gallegos said he had little faith in that as a viable option.

"We can't get even take care of our stray dogs, much less check on bicycles," Gallegos said.

He urged Houston officials to proceed slowly.

"Let Seattle, let (Washington) D.C., let Dallas figure this out," Gallegos said.

Riders, meanwhile, were less concerned about the blight the bikes could pose, and more interested in where they can hop on.

"So, they'll just be out, anywhere," said Derrick Johnson, 36, as he waited for bus near Emancipation Park after lunch. "Yeah, if I knew there'd be one somewhere close when I needed it, I'd use it all the time."

After jogging along Buffalo Bayou Park, Carmen Rios, 33, said she would use the bikes. Especially for trips to Midtown bars.

"Parking is bad," Rios said. "If I can avoid it, I would."

Supply and Demand

Distribution of the bikes well beyond the existing B-Cycle system - which has about 30 stations mostly in the central business district, Midtown and Museum District - is a priority, council members said.

Houston's history with bike programs in low-income areas is spotty, however. Among B-Cycle's 30 stations, the two targeted to so-called under-served communities outside Clayton Homes north of EaDo and at Project Row Houses near Third Ward are the kiosks with the least use.

The current B-Cycle system has failed to do that, Green and District B Councilman Jerry Davis said, because city staff failed to ask people in the community where they should put bikes.

Complicating the concerns over bringing bikes to under-served communities is the idea of the city limiting how many bikes the private companies can distribute around Houston. Irshad said officials are proposing a cap that would allow each company to deploy as many as 500 bikes the first month and add up to 250 each month thereafter during the pilot.

That, some companies argue, will allow the city to phase in the bikes, and better assess demand. Seattle and Washington have closely controlled where and how many dockless bikes can be distributed, in hopes of avoiding problems that have plagued some Asian cities where mounds of bicycles form in high-density areas, clogging sidewalks and storefronts.

The two largest companies in the dockless bike-sharing industry, Ofo and LimeBike, argued that limits would mean fewer bikes in low-income communities.

"Caps will disproportionately harm those neighborhoods," said Jeri Brooks, a Houston-based lobbyist hired by Ofo.

Such limits will prompt companies to focus on places where they can get the most use of the bikes, notably in more established areas with bike trails.

B-Cycle Executive Director Carter Stern, who noted other kiosk-based systems are decrying the use of dockless bikes, said Houston officials should embrace it - even if it imperils B-Cycle. He said his hope is to work with the dockless companies, possibly overseeing their local operations and distribution.

"We are a sprawling low-density city and a tough nut to crack," Stern said. "But I think we are equipped to do it."

Officials also are conscious, as they roll out a new way for Houstonians to move around the city, to not repeat some of the lingering debate and political maneuvering that preceded the last major mobility issue - smartphone-based companies such as Lyft and Uber that link riders and drivers. Months of negotiations with the companies turned into political squabbling when the companies entered the market without regulation in February 2014, only to come under regulation nine months later that most companies found onerous.

Seeking more favorable rules in Houston and other Texas cities, the companies lobbied heavily in Austin, eventually winning state control of paid rides for the companies. Since those rules went into effect in September, the city has had no control of the companies, outside the two city-owned airports.

"We will stay in front of this," Green said after the meeting, adding he hoped to have regulations in place by the first quarter of next year.

Whether the companies will wait - some are anxious to arrive in Houston - is unclear. All said during Monday's meeting they wanted a good partnership with city officials.

Bicycling advocates said Houston is right to prepare for dockless bikes.

"They are going to be here whether we like them or not," said John Long, executive director of BikeHouston. "The more options we have available, the better Houston will function as a network."