No more new shared bikes, for now: Shanghai transport commission
Local transportation authority told bike sharing companies in Shanghai to stop launching new shared bikes for now on Friday and violators will be recorded on the companies’ credit profiles.
Ofo and Mobike, two of the largest bike sharing companies, said they will follow the order and have stopped new bike launching at Friday night.
The city’s transportation commission sent a note to the city’s bike sharing companies on Friday.
In addition, the bike sharing companies were also asked to move illegally parked or accumulated bikes in time, particularly in areas such as transportation hubs, Metro stations and hospitals. Bikes not taken away in time will be moved by third-party companies and the costs will be paid by the bike sharing companies.
The note also has requirements on ratio of maintenance staffers against the number of bikes and that companies should recall broken bikes in time. According to the recently issued national guidelines on governing bike-sharing business, the local authority will introduce measures in accordance with the city’s situation, to gradually solve issues brought by the industry’s booming development.
Ofo said it immediately stopped launching new bikes at Friday night and will add 80 operating vehicles to move and arrange badly parked bikes to cooperate with the local authorities. It will also move more bikes in downtown to suburban areas and add maintenance staffers to ensure clear streets.
Mobike also promised to stop launching new bikes and called for other companies to follow the requirements of the authority. The company said that the supply and demand of shared bikes in Shanghai has reached balance.