That’s more in line with how I’ve seen these programs pitched in the past. Tourist bikes and downtown bikes to provide options in car-congested areas. I used them in Honolulu, Karlsruhe, Denver, and a number of other places and it was always because I was visiting without a car.

Having said all that, I spoke with someone from my local bikeshare recently who told me they’re doing a low income program where you can actually own the bike after you’ve used the program a certain amount of time. We are very suburban with skeleton transit in most areas, so you can’t cover the distances without a car or bike.