It has been noted that the station stands have recently been updated to allow checkout of a bike using a personal connect card (https://healthyridepgh.com/connectcard/). 

Following this idea, it could be a useful and cheaper intervention to revamp the stands to allow for a more interactive experience with the community. Instead of simply being used to check out a bike, the stands could be used to find popular destinations throughout the city. As residents from the 'burgh check out a bike they can input their destination. This will allow the city and Healthy Rides to gather more in-depth data of the use of the shared bike system. This could also be reversed and shared with tourists/ new comers to the city to find recommended destinations within the city that are in close proximity to a bike station- think of it as a modern day yelp for bikers! 

No longer will stands serve a solo purpose of checking out a bike, but rather it will be an informal collection of peer to peer data that allows the city to become even more interactive. 

Further developing from that idea, the city could also look into adapting a Copenhagen Wheel: https://content.superpedestrian.com/