I wonder if this could be explained as a culture difference - speaking as a native Texan turned San Francisco resident, it is my feeling (unbacked by any other data) that here the community is more communal - compliance with recycling/compost is greater, shared resources seem cleaner / more respected (I don't see dockless bikes or Scoots left strewn around), and even in traffic people generally defer to letting someone in to the lane or waiting for a pedestrian (in Houston it's more typical to see people skipping exit lines and trying to cut in at the last second, or aggressively cutting off pedestrians).
No I think the tragedy of the commons would still take hold in SF without some kind of penalty in place (either by the company or by the government, or both) for leaving the bike in a bad spot. Of course this will require a method of enforcement as well.
