LUSK: Cities can now have electric scooters and electric bikes along with bike-share bikes, dockless and docked. Cities can ban scooters or electric bikes but as customers demand the scooters and e-bikes, it will be hard for a city to resist. Scooters and e-bikes are more environmental than cars and take up less space.

GAZETTE: There have been reports of the ride-hailing boom adding to traffic congestion. How do you see a service like LimeBike fitting into that landscape?

LUSK: In Boston and Cambridge, many cars are parallel parked because parking permits are free or only cost $25 and parking in a parking garage is expensive. I perceive that, for each Uber or Lyft, we now have two cars taking up the road right-of-way: a) the car the owner leaves parked on the side of the road near their house because they don’t want to lose their space; and b) the Uber or Lyft they ride to their destination that stops in odd places to let out passengers. Every car parked on the side of the road means it is that much more difficult to build cycle tracks and make biking safer. Every Uber or Lyft that oddly parks to let out passengers is a threat to bicyclists.

GAZETTE: Residents in some communities have complained about the unattractive look of certain docking stations. Is there a better approach or design that might mitigate those concerns?

LUSK: Just as we place amenities to enhance street aesthetics — planters, trees, window boxes, fanciful chalkboard signs, sidewalk tables and chairs, etc. — we should be careful with the placement and design of the bike docks. Bike docks are in place 24/7, even if there aren’t bikes in the docks. One way to think of bike docks is to ask a homeowner if they would want to have a bike dock for 12 bikes outside of their house on the sidewalk. If they could design the bike dock, what would it look like to complement their house and their landscaping?

Interview was edited for clarity and length.