Australia’s deeply flawed bike-sharing scheme is making an eyesore of our major cities – and the company responsible seems at a loss to stop it.
Singapore-based business oBike operates the new system, which allows its users to dump the bikes anywhere they please – provided it does not endanger public safety.
They urge paying customers to leave the bike somewhere ‘safe and secure’, but there are no physical docks or poles for the bikes to be chained to, just a small lock on the back wheel to be closed shut when the rider is done.
As a result, discarded oBikes have been photographed sprawled across the streets of Melbourne and Sydney – as well as in public parks, hanging from trees and dumped in lakes.
Home sweet home: oBike has come under fire as its dockless bike sharing system has resulted in bicycles being left throughout Sydney
The bikes, which also come with helmets, have been seen at the beach, dumped on footpaths and even in trees
A spokesperson for oBike told Daily Mail Australia the company was having ‘teething problems’
Looking for friends? This oBike was seen on the footpath outside a bicycle shop
An oBike spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the company was going through some ‘teething problems’ in Australia.
‘Smart dockless bike-sharing as means of public transportation is a new concept in Australia and we are going through teething problems,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Public awareness regarding the benefits of bike-sharing is key to overcome these challenges.’
The spokesperson noted that Australians are ‘free-spirited’ people and urged them to ‘give dockless bike-sharing a fair go!’
‘For every abuse case, there had been many more who exhibited positive riding behaviours,’ they said.
The bikes are supposed to be left in ‘safe and secure’ places, but most are not
The bikes are ‘parked’ by the user and then clipped at the wheel to indicate the end of a trip
Other users find their nearest bike through an app, which connects to the bike through gps
oBike has asked for more public support in reporting poorly parked bikes
The spokesperson said oBike were actively trying to collect bikes which have been dumped in questionable places, but needed more support in keeping up with demand.
‘We have a team of maintenance staff moving around to routinely check on the status and condition of our bikes, and will proceed to move those that have been indiscriminately parked,’ they said.
‘We encourage oBike users to get in touch with us directly regarding any indiscriminately parked bicycles that they spot to help expedite the process.
‘From there, our maintenance team will be deployed and we will proceed with the investigation accordingly.’
An oBike membership via its app costs $69, which acts as a deposit and is completely refundable, plus $1.99 per 30 minutes of riding.
The bikes are tracked by GPS, which can be accessed through the company app, allowing customers to better track their usage.
The company says it will come and collect bicycles which have been dumped inappropriately
An oBike membership via its app costs $69, which acts as a deposit and is completely refundable, plus $1.99 per 30 minutes of riding
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oBike began operating in Australia in January with the idea of improving on the popular ‘Boris Bikes’ in London with a system free of docks and using an app to track distance and cost – but the company now admits it has teething problems
Despite the popularity of the dockless system in Asian countries, including the implementation of over 100,000 bicycles in Chinese cities, the scheme has not proven successful in Australia.
Residents have labelled the yellow bikes as ‘visual pollution’, and with oBikes found on the roofs of bus stops and sitting on park benches, its hard to argue.
One image shows a bike in a tree, ‘parked’ alongside one left on the roof of a bus shelter.
They’ve been seen in lakes, lying on footpaths, and tangled up in heaps, sitting on the back of a dump truck.
A spokesperson for oBike has asked for more public help in finding and reporting the bizarrely parked bikes
Despite the popularity of the dockless system in Asian countries, the scheme, which relies heavily on the public to park the bikes correctly, has not proven successful in Australia (pictured)
Images of bikes knocked down on the road, tangled up with others, hung in trees and dumped in lakes have been shared on social media, with Melbourne the main offenders
Residents have labelled the yellow bikes as ‘visual pollution’, and with oBikes found on the roofs of bus stops and sitting on park benches, its hard to argue