It could be done well as you describe it. The ones in the town I was at were not done well, but yes it could be a crucial piece of non car transportation, filling the void between busses and subways and trolleys and personally owned bikes and scooters, that you also have to worry about getting stolen (and the police where I’ve been at put zero effort in catching the thieves of working peoples’ bikes/ property. If not less than zero they will go out of their way to destroy your property themselves if they get a chance society has a passionate hate for the working poor thanks to fox et al.)

But if cheap, and not covered in spyware that gets sold to databrokers with no protections, ie cameras and microphones and gps and sensing other phones and computers and wifi networks nearby and all of that, it could be beneficial. It’s often not though, because we have all the wrong people in charge of every organization in this country with few exceptions, and silicon valley parasites are never one of those exceptions.