Comments on: Will dockless bikes ride again? https://www.policyforum.net/dockless-bikes/ The APPS Policy Forum a public policy website devoted to Asia and the Pacific. Thu, 06 Dec 2018 01:24:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.7 By: Simon Jones https://www.policyforum.net/dockless-bikes/#comment-12065 Thu, 29 Nov 2018 16:18:47 +0000 https://www.policyforum.net/?p=28220#comment-12065 I was an Obike subscriber, one of the many who embraced the idea only to be screwed out of my deposit by the company who closed up shop and made off with millions in deposits from users across the world. They weren’t handy in Melbourne or Paris because they were often vandalised or not where the app said they were, but in Singapore I found them to be a really handy way to get around.

I’m now in Paris where I have a Velib bike share account. However, I am also a frequent user of Lime, Bird, Wind, and Bolt electric scooters. They’re quick and ideally suited for cooler weather when riding up some hill is going to leave me hot and sweaty in my winter wear.

Encouragingly enough, the Electric scooters in Paris don’t seem to be suffering from the same amount of vandalism that Obike, Ofo, Mobike and other bike share companies (including the cities own Velib) have suffered from.

Will electric scooter flourish in Australia? Perhaps. The rate of vandalism of Obikes I saw in Melbourne was shocking, and the company showed little interest in relocating bikes that left the CBD, meaning that when bikes ventured beyond the CBD borders, they were essentially lost. Lime and other companies will have to find a solution for this, and fortunately, they have a few more digital tools, like geo-fencing, at their disposal.

I hope that Australians will welcome electric scooters and not sling them in rivers in the same way they did with Obikes. But the companies who distribute them need to do be welcomed by the cities and seen as a solution rather than a problem.

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