text: Scholars and advocates have been working to peel back the onion to discover why exactly bike share systems have so often failed at this. In short, it’s tough and hard to say. Location isn’t the sole factor. Not, pardon the pun, by a mile. Looking only at location, many of the city’s low-income areas were outside of the initial service zone, and, even with this expansion, still are. (See this map in a SPOKE feature I penned this winter.)