Under The Angsana Tree: Singapore Bicycle Sharing Turns Bad

Bike Abuse Cases That Show Why Bike Sharing May Be Doomed To Fail

Singapore Bad Bikers

When a bicycle sharing system was first rolled out in January, Singaporeans were intrigued by the novel idea. Who wouldn’t prefer a quick bicycle ride so get away from the sweltering Singapore heat faster?

To make things sweeter, the bicycles were easily accessible — users can pick up and drop off the bicycles at places like MRT stations, neighbourhoods and the downtown area.

Currently, there are 3 bike-sharing platforms operating in Singapore: oBike, ofo and Mobike. To rent from oBike, for example, all one has to do is find a bike, scan a QR code to rent it and ride to your heart’s content. It sounds simple enough. Well, that is if the bikes you find are in working condition.

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Are Singaporeans too irresponsible for bike-sharing?

Singaporeans are always complaining about having to pay for everything. But when we finally get free things, people mistreat and misuse them. Case in point: The abuse of Ofo bikes

If you haven’t already heard, ofo’s bright yellow bikes are part of the dockless bike-sharing introduced here earlier this year. Unlike its competitors oBike and Mobike, ofo bikes do not require any deposit (part of its free trial) – which is perhaps why they are suffer the most misuse and abuse.

Just when you thought abandoned supermarket trolleys were bad, Ofo bikes come along and show us the extent of how irresponsible and inconsiderate some people can be.

Ofo bikes have been seen at the side of the road, painted entirely in white with the lock removed and even dumped at a longkang (drain). Recently, a youth was also filmed slamming an Ofo bike into the ground and stomping on it.

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S’poreans Are Acting Like Brats With Bike Sharing, So Jurong Town Council Is Stepping In As Strict Parents

Last month, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced that it will be scrapping its plans for a national bicycle-sharing initiative after the emergence of private bike-sharing companies in Singapore.

But on Saturday (April 29), Jurong-Clementi Town Council signed a partnership with the three bike-sharing companies in Singapore – China-based Mobike and ofo; as well as homegrown oBike – to launch a one-year pilot bicycle sharing programme.

Bicycle parking zones intended mainly for rental bicycles will be added to 30 sites in Jurong, on top of 120 new bicycle racks, to ease the problem of bicycle-sharing firms’ vehicles being parked willy-nilly in public areas.

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Shared Ofo bike chained outside HDB flat is why S’poreans cannot have nice things

A yellow Ofo bike was photographed chained outside a flat when it is supposedly part of the sharing economy

This is one of the reasons why Singaporeans cannot have nice things.

There are three major bicycle-share providers in Singapore: Local start-up oBike and two other China-based Ofo and Mobike.

The premise of the bicycle-sharing scheme is simple: Download the app, locate the bicycle, unlock it using the code provided, ride and payment is deducted after locking the bicycle.

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Bike-sharing companies play down reports of misuse of bicycles

One was pictured dumped in a canal. Another was filmed as it was thrown about and stomped on while others have been painted over

Reports about bike-sharing bicycles being chained up, damaged or tampered with have dominated the news recently.

Despite the proliferation of bicycle abuse reports on social media, bike-sharing companies here say that the number of such cases is "very small".

Home-grown oBike, the 1st bike-sharing company here, told The New Paper that only 1% of its fleet has been reported to be damaged, while 2% of its bicycles have been recovered after being "indiscriminately parked".

related: Residents think he's stealing bikes when he's doing his job

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POLICE REPORT TO BE LODGED OVER VANDALISM OF RENTAL BIKE

It seems like the bike rental company has lost patience with their inconsiderate customers, and they will lodge a police report over one of their rental bikes that was left inside a canal at Punggol.

Such irresponsible individual needs to be flagged, and police should take necessary actions against these people. This is definitely damaging of property, and if cases of vandalised rental bikes remains unchecked, then there will be more and more of such cases.

All bikes, whether they are rented or otherwise, should not be subjected to such blatant acts of vandalism. Hope the person who did this gets caught, and be made a lesson to other would be vandals. We cannot tolerate this kind of behaviour.

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Steps being taken to promote responsible bike-sharing

Bike-sharing company oBike has recently launched parking location indicators in its app to help users to find designated parking areas. ST FILE FOTO

Bike-sharing in S'pore has taken off since the service was first introduced early this year.

oBike is conscious that a small group of our users is still not aware of the right way to use this service ('Bike interchange' outside condo a nuisance & safety hazard, by Mr William Tan Chee How; May 2).

We have been engaging various stakeholders in the hope of cultivating a socially gracious & courteous community of riders in Singapore.

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LTA Dismounts Off The National Bicycle-Sharing Scheme - Here's What Led To Its Scrapping

Just three days after the launch of Mobike, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Friday (March 24) that it’s pulling the plug on the national bicycle-sharing initiative, which was slated to be piloted at the end of this year.

The LTA had called a tender in July 2016 for an operator to build, own, operate and maintain a bicycle-sharing system in Jurong Lake District. To defray part of the costs, tenderers could bid for grants from LTA.

The tender closed in December 2016 and attracted a total of 13 bids from local and foreign participants, receiving proposals that were a mix of both docked and dockless bicycle-sharing systems.

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ofo bike dumped in longkang at Yishun Ave 4

Stomp has received multiple reports of ofo bikes being misused and abused by members of the public but this is the first time we have received photos of one of the bikes being dumped in a drain.

Stomper Elgin saw an ofo bike lying in a drain behind a bus stop near Block 651 Yishun Ave 4 yesterday (Apr 14).

The bike was visibly damaged with dents on its frames and covered in leaves.

related: Resident finds ofo bike at Toa Payoh Lor 6, painted white

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Bike-sharing company launches points system to deter bad behaviour

To address the growing problem of indiscriminate parking of rental bicycles, homegrown bicycle-sharing company oBike on Thursday (April 13) announced a carrot-and-stick, community-policing system which will award or deduct credits from users based on their behaviour, and this would in turn affect how much they need to pay for the service.

Explaining how the scoring system works at the company’s official launch, oBike’s general manager Elgin Ee said that every user will start with 100 points upon signing up for an account.

To deter inconsiderate behaviour, up to 20 points will be deducted from a rider’s credit score if he/she parks the bicycle at non-designated parking areas. On the other hand, someone who reports such instances will have three points added to his/her account.

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NON-AWARD OF BICYCLE-SHARING TENDER

To improve first-and-last-mile connectivity and encourage cycling for short trips, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) had called a tender in July 2016 for an operator to build, own, operate and maintain a bicycle-sharing system in Jurong Lake District. To defray part of the costs, tenderers could bid for grants from LTA. The experiences of docked bicycle-sharing programmes in cities such as London and Taipei have been that they typically require public sector funding for sustainability.

The tender closed in December 2016 and attracted a total of 13 bids from local and foreign participants. The proposals were a mix of both docked and dockless bicycle-sharing systems.

Since the beginning of this year, however, several fully privately-funded dockless bicycle-sharing services have emerged in Singapore. These operators have plans to roll out many thousands of shared-bicycles and expand their operations to more locations over the next one to two years.

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ofo Singapore 18 April at 03:26

We noted several incidents of misusing our service.

While we trust our users with full heart and will continue providing the best-quality bike-sharing convenience, we would not hesitate to report to police or take legal actions against vandalisms.

We invite all warm-hearted users to report damaging behaviors to report-sg@ofo.so

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@hxngwei

dude wtf is wrong with you people? not my vid lmao

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syra@qlhbusyra

Instead of just leaving it aside, ruined, brought this bike home & asked my dad to repair!

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New bike-sharing system gets rolling

oBike users, who pay $1 for 30 minutes, do not have to return bike at fixed stations

Without any fanfare, a new bicycle-sharing scheme has hit the road in the northern & western parts of Singapore.

The white, single-gear oBikes, which come with a bell & reflectors, are available for hire at MRT stations such as Buona Vista, Jurong East, Bukit Batok, Woodlands & Sembawang, among others.

Each can be rented through a mobile app at a cost of $1 for 30 minutes. A user scans a QR code on a bike with his phone, which automatically unlocks the machine.

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Bike-sharing in Singapore: Mobike, oBike and ofo put to the test

2 days after the latest bike-sharing platform, Mobike, launched here, the Government announced it would scrap its plan for a national bike-sharing scheme.

The Land Transport Authority, which had already attracted tenders for the scheme, said on Friday, Mar 24, that it has "reassessed" its plan as the 3 private companies, Mobike, oBike & ofo, are looking to roll out "many thousands" of bicycles over the next 2 years.

The companies said they are actively working with partners so that their bikes can be parked at public racks, after the East Coast-Fengshan Town Council recently objected to bikes being parked at its public racks for "rental business".

related: Mobike to launch 1,000 parking zones this year

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S'pore's Bike-Sharing Race Heats Up

With the rise of the sharing economy, Singapore is also starting to see a trend of bike-sharing services.

On Tuesday (March 21), Beijing-based company Mobike launched its bike-sharing service in Singapore, marking the firm’s first overseas expansion.

It now joins two other similar providers – local startup oBike and fellow Chinese firm Ofo – both of whom are currently operating in Singapore.

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Chinese smart bike-sharing service Mobike rides into Singapore

A bicycle with airless tires, a solar panelled basket and a GPS tracker isn't your typical mode of transport.

But, Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike is betting the two-wheeled option takes off outside of its home market.

The Beijing-based startup is deploying hundreds of its bikes across Singapore, the first step in an ambitious overseas expansion, as competition in the bike-sharing sector heats up.

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Chinese firm Mobike rolls into Singapore's bike-sharing market

Beijing-based company Mobike officially launched its bicycle-sharing services in Singapore on Tue (Mar 21), marking the firm's first expansion out of China.

Mobike now joins 2 other bicycle-share providers - local start-up oBike and China-based Ofo - who are both currently operating in Singapore.

Mobike launched the bicycle-rental app in S'pore on Tuesday after "months of research", with a particular focus on areas where commuters travel to and from key transport hubs such as MRT stations.

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You can now rent a bicycle easily with oBike mobile app

If you chance upon these city bicycles with white frame and yellow wheels without any rider or wheel locks in place, don’t be surprised and don’t go stealing them.

That’s because a new bike sharing platform oBike has landed in town. The bike-sharing startup has quietly launched their platform with hundreds of rental bicycles popping up along pathways, bicycle designated areas and parks in Singapore. The bicycles wheels are locked with a smart clamp that riders can unlock using the oBike mobile app (available on App Store and Google Play).

Renting the bike will set you back by a dollar for every 30 minutes of riding. However, first-time users will need to pay a refundable deposit of $49 in-app via PayPal or credit card to ensure responsible usage.

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oBike - Stationless Bike Sharing

Now you can Ride oBike and Stay Healthy! Pick up any oBike and enjoy your Ride with your family, friends. Ride to be healthy, Ride to your workplace, Ride to a Train/Bus station, Ride to meet a friend, Ride for a causal date!

oBike is a station-less bike sharing platform which give you freedom to pick up a bike anywhere and GO! It is now available in Singapore! Our bikes are available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

Search for an available bike anywhere, go for a ride, and return it to any public parking area. It’s that easy, Confirm, Guarantee, Chop!

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China-based ofo joins in the bike-share

Look like bike sharing is the next Uber. After oBike quiet launch earlier this month, there’s already a new player in town.

Ofo is a China-based company that provides similar stationless bike rental service as oBike, allowing users to rent and collect bicycles from designated parking areas in parks or malls through a mobile app.

Unlocking ofo bikes, however, requires a bit more effort. oBike has an automatic lock which opens simply by scanning a QR code on the bike whereas ofo will send you a 4-digit code for unlocking the bike manually.

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Bicycle-sharing scene heats up with Ofo

The bicycle-sharing scene in Singapore is heating up, with a new company setting up shop and an existing player rapidly expanding its fleet of bicycles. The latest entrant into the market is Chinese company Ofo, which has launched about 1,000 bikes in areas such as Punggol and West Coast Park and in the city area. The company, which operates in major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, started operations here last week.

Its direct competitor Obike, a Singapore-based start-up with both local and Chinese investors, already has 'a few thousand' bikes islandwide after it launched a month ago. A company spokesman, who declined to give specifics, said Obike plans to bring in 'tens of thousands' more bikes by the middle of the year.

Both companies have moved to entrench themselves in the local market, ahead of the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) national bike-share scheme due to launch in the fourth quarter of this year.

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DO S'POREANS HATE OFO? ANOTHER BIKE DUMPED INTO FLOODED LONGKANG

Singaporeans really hate the OFO bicycle.

Look at what I found in the drain!

Another instance of Ofo bike being dumped like rubbish into the flooded canal.

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Not 1, not 2, but 3 cases of ofo bike abuse all in a day at Serangoon

Say what you may, but it seems Singaporeans just don't deserve the nice toys.

Stomper Daniel was infuriated when he chanced upon not one, not two, but three cases of people abusing Ofo bikes -- all within the span of a day in Serangoon.

In the first case, Daniel discovered three Ofo bikes which were chained together with a purple lock, near Saint Gabriel's Secondary School yesterday (May 11) morning.

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OFO stomp

20/05/2017

Singapore Bicycle Sharing Turns Bad