From 1 Nov, There Would be 50% Fewer Shared Bikes Lying All Over S’pore

You didn’t hear wrong.  Come November (which is like, tomorrow?), half the shared bikes in Singapore will be gone.

That’s right, now I might not even get that bike ride.

Jokes aside, Land Transport Authority (LTA) has imposed a deadline for bike operators to cut their fleets by 1 November 2018.

This came about after Ofo informed the authority that it was facing financial difficulties maintaining 25,000 bikes, which is quite surprising given that they initially wanted to havve 80,000 bikes. Ofo’s request to reduce its fleet to 10,000 bikes was then granted.

With this reduction, Mobike will be the largest shared-bike operator here in Singapore, managing 25,000 bikes.

In September 2018, there were 100,000 bikes lying around. By 1 November 2018, the number would have to be 40,500.

So it’s actually more than 50% lah.

Who are the remaining players now?

5 out of 6 bike-sharing operators who had gotten their licences have also accepted the maximum fleet limits they were given. They are Ofo, Mobike, SG Bike, Anywheel, GrabCycle and Qiqi ZhiXiang. Qiqi Zhixiang is the smallest operator with 500 bikes.

Yah, needless to say, oBike is out of the picture, and though we’ve always said RIP to Uber, we’ll have to say ROD to oBike (Return Our Deposit).

Here to Stay?

Like it or not, these shared bikes have become an indispensable part of our lives here in Singapore, despite this very relevant meme:

As you can tell, Singaporeans are obsessed with owning and personalising these, er, shared bikes.

Remember oBike’s dramatic exit that left thousands of users high and dry? Well, oBike blamed its departure on the new rules that were implemented by LTA.

What new rules?

Rules are meant to be followed

This isn’t exactly new news, but let me fill you in on what was going on lest you’ve got a goldfish memory (after all, I bet you’ve forgotten about Ofo’s initial claim to have 80,000 bikes, eh?)

In March this year, LTA got fed up with the ugly side of bike-sharing.  What ugly side?

Here you go. The obstructive parking and mishandling of shared bikes was just too much for the authorities to handle.

To curb the problem, the Government decided that operators have to apply for a licence and their fleet will have to be controlled.  Under these new rules, operators have to pay $60 for each bike deployed. There is also a one-time application fee of $1,500.

Ok lah, not as bad as Australia.  The operators there have to pay A$3,000 (S$3,040) if a bike blocks a street for 2 hours.

And then we have The Parking Places Bill in March 2018 that targets the 100,000 bikes that have been haphazardly parked in our beautiful garden city.

Under this bill, you have to scan the unique QR code at the approved parking location as proof of proper parking. You cannot suka-suka end your trip anywhere already.

See lah, why you anyhow park? 

Also, don’t say I never remind you. If you anyhow park three times, you will be temporarily banned from renting a bike hor. Three strikes and you’re out.