Social Bicycles instructs bike share users to always lock to bike racks, never to fences, poles, trees, or other unregulated objects. Such activity is not specific to smart-bikes only, but is also known to occur with traditional systems (see photos below).
The out-of-hub locking fee is a deterrent that discourages users from locking outside of hubs. Operators can also issue warnings to users if they repeatedly park at unauthorized locations, or apply additional penalties if needed.
Social Bicycles can be located through GPS when locked out-of-hub, unlike traditional systems, which facilitates retrieval of bikes not locked at proper locations.