Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Dockless bike share firm Mobike shuts up shop in Manchester, blames thieves and vandals

Number of bikes damaged or stolen makes operation unsustainable; Chris Boardman says alternative schemes being considered

Dockless bike-share firm Mobike has followed through on its threat made last month to pull out of Manchester due to levels of losses due to vandalism and theft rendering its operation in the city “unsustainable.”

The Beijing-based business – with fellow Chinese operator Ofo one of the two biggest operators globally in the burgeoning sector – now operates in more than 200 cities worldwide, Manchester being the first outside Asia.

But last month it warned that the number of bikes being stolen or vandalised there – a tenth of its fleet in the city in July this year alone – meant it would be unable to continue its operations there, launched in summer 2017 in partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester.

> Dockless bike share firm Mobike threatens to pull out of Manchester

Now, The Guardian reports that the company has already begun refunding customers there with their £29 deposits required to use the bikes, as well as any credit they may have on their accounts.

Stories of bicycles belonging to the scheme in the city being vandalised have regularly been featured in the local press – including one being set on fire, and others being thrown in canals or left dangling from lampposts.

But Greater Manchester cycling and walking commissioner Chris Boardman insists that “antisocial behaviour is not a problem unique to Manchester,” telling the Guardian that “It has been encountered in other UK cities and other bike operators have found ways to deal with it.”

He continued: “The problem here has been that we just haven’t seen the right level of engagement from Mobike or a willingness to work to implement tried and tested solutions.”

Boardman, who in June launched Greater Manchester’s Beelines initiative to encourage more people to cycle and walk there by making streets safer for them and who sees having a bike-share programme as an important element of that, said he had been in discussions with Nextbike, which operates in cities including Glasgow and Cardiff.

> Greater Manchester unveils ambitious plans for UK's biggest network of cycling and walking routes

“This was always a trial and despite the negative outcome we’ve learnt a huge amount from both using and observing the scheme in action,” he said of Mobike.

“A successful bike share scheme requires close community and partner engagement from the outset, the option for docking stations and enough people on the ground to ensure it is reliable and serving its purpose.”

Mobike’s general manager in the UK, Jan Van der Ven, commented: “We are very grateful to the city of Manchester to have been the first city in Europe to welcome Mobike.
“However, after careful evaluation, we have decided to remove our bikes and refund our users.

“As a private company, we have a duty to ensure our revenues cover our costs since unlike some operators we do not use taxpayer money to help balance our books.

“Unfortunately the circumstances in Manchester have not made this possible,” he added.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

22 comments

Avatar
andyp | 5 years ago
1 like

dockless is mental. And agree entirely with this:

 

 

'Central Manchester is compact enough that cars could be banned altogether, it's pretty much car free as it is, but more could be done.

I'm more than happy walking across the centre on business and wouldn't use a bike. Getting out of the city would be a car ride anyway and outside the Mobike range. Apart from data collection, they weren't really feasible in Manchester.'

Avatar
CygnusX1 replied to andyp | 5 years ago
0 likes

andyp wrote:

dockless is mental.

Docked have their drawbacks too - try finding an empty dock in the City after 8am for example - you end up having to go well out of your way to find an empty slot. 

What they need is some kind of hybrid system that encourages you to use docks if they are available, but let's you park elsewhere, and doesn't penalise you for not using a dock if they are full.  Oh and lightweight,  yet bulletproof bikes. 

Solve all that before lunch, then tackle world poverty.  

Avatar
andyp replied to CygnusX1 | 5 years ago
1 like

CygnusX1 wrote:

andyp wrote:

dockless is mental.

Docked have their drawbacks too - try finding an empty dock in the City after 8am for example - you end up having to go well out of your way to find an empty slot. 

What they need is some kind of hybrid system that encourages you to use docks if they are available, but let's you park elsewhere, and doesn't penalise you for not using a dock if they are full.  Oh and lightweight,  yet bulletproof bikes. 

Solve all that before lunch, then tackle world poverty.  

 

 

...try being a person with reduced mobility in a place with dockless bikes. They're not 'yours', you don't need to leave them in a specific place - just dump the fecker. Pavement, stairs,  bus stop, wherever. Sod everyone else. If it's your own bike you lock it somewhere sensible, out of the way, because you don't want it damaged or nicked.

 

Having to walk a bit (for someone who has been cycling) shouldn't really be that big a deal.

 

Agree that it's the users rather than the docks/lack of docks which are the real problem, but docks mean that non-users are less inconvenienced.

Avatar
davel | 5 years ago
3 likes

I think they fooked up the logistics. The writing was on the wall when they reined the boundary in because they couldn't support collection from the suburbs.

But the only people I know who had used them, had only used them to get home in the suburbs. Isn't that what they're meant for? Journeys of a few miles? Pulling that boundary in tight to the city centre really dropped it off people's radars - why faff around picking up a mobike for a journey you can walk in 15 mins?

They messed the Manchester implementation up and are blaming the scallies.

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to davel | 5 years ago
2 likes

davel wrote:

I think they fooked up the logistics. The writing was on the wall when they reined the boundary in because they couldn't support collection from the suburbs. But the only people I know who had used them, had only used them to get home in the suburbs. Isn't that what they're meant for? Journeys of a few miles? Pulling that boundary in tight to the city centre really dropped it off people's radars - why faff around picking up a mobike for a journey you can walk in 15 mins? They messed the Manchester implementation up and are blaming the scallies.

Central Manchester is compact enough that cars could be banned altogether, it's pretty much car free as it is, but more could be done.

I'm more than happy walking across the centre on business and wouldn't use a bike. Getting out of the city would be a car ride anyway and outside the Mobike range. Apart from data collection, they weren't really feasible in Manchester.

Avatar
brooksby replied to don simon fbpe | 5 years ago
1 like

don simon wrote:

Central Manchester is compact enough that cars could be banned altogether, it's pretty much car free as it is, but more could be done.

I'm more than happy walking across the centre on business and wouldn't use a bike. Getting out of the city would be a car ride anyway and outside the Mobike range. Apart from data collection, they weren't really feasible in Manchester.

Not just Manchester.  I (as regulars will know yes) am in Bristol.  The central areas of Bristol are, as you can imagine, tiny: much smaller than Manchester, for example.  Absolutely easy walking distance for anyone who has working legs.

The council keeps p!ssing around with the Centre, allegedly to reduce traffic and make it better for non-motorists, every few years (the latest one involves making it better for non-motorists by putting a big new general traffic road slap bang through the middle of it, turning one side into a bus lane / bus stopping with engine idling area, and adding a whole new set of light controlled crossings.

They cannot see that the problem is that the centre of the city is still used as a through-route. when it really shouldn't.

We have a major motorway (M5) going up the west of the city, another (M4) across the north, and an urban motorway (M32) which comes pretty much directly down to the main shopping centres, so there's no need to facilitate commuters coming in from south of the city (North Somerset, via the Clifton Suspension Bridge or the Cumberland Basin) to then drive right through the middle to get to the north.  Motorways were built for cars - bl00dy use them, then!

There's no need for all this fiddling around just so as to not tick off the people who will get in a car to drive from Broadmead to Park Street, for example (google it).

Avatar
SteveAustin | 5 years ago
4 likes

You can't leave a "normal bike" anywhere without it being vandalised, stripped, or stolen, so what numbnut thought hirebikes would be exempt from the treatment given out to every other bike?

Avatar
Mr Agreeable | 5 years ago
3 likes

Even if riders generally look after them, it's very hard for dockless bike schemes to make money. This makes for interesting reading: I wonder if GDPR has cut off an important potential income stream for the hire companies.

https://www.citymetric.com/transport/do-economics-bike-sharing-schemes-s...

Avatar
janusz0 | 5 years ago
0 likes

Mobike:

Quote: "The Beijing-based business ..[snip].. now operates in more than 200 cities worldwide, Manchester being the first outside Asia.

I've noticed these rather distinctive shaft drive bikes in London too.  Who operates them there?

They're designed to be robust, but the wheel design (cast rim and compression spokes) suggests an uncomfortable ride.

Avatar
CygnusX1 replied to janusz0 | 5 years ago
0 likes

janusz0 wrote:

I've noticed these rather distinctive shaft drive bikes in London too.  Who operates them there?

 

Mobike are operating in Camden - I occasional see their bikes and some yellow ofos in the City. There are 5 bikeshares in Greater London now, appraently:

http://oobrien.com/2017/11/five-bikeshares-in-london/

Avatar
Kendalred | 5 years ago
0 likes

Have a hub-powered battery that generates an electric current to the frame, which is then only disabled by the app that sends out a signal to the bike.

Hey presto - instant electrocution to all those fiddling with the bike without a paid-up account!

I'm only suggesting a low level charge mind, not something that would fry your hair off.

Too far?

Avatar
Mungecrundle | 5 years ago
2 likes

Yet again the moronic actions of the few spoil the reputation of a great city.

There is no collective responsibility of fellow Mancunians for the behaviour of the imbeciles, yet the commercial reality is that this company has been forced to remove a service that was valued by many and the city gets another question mark against it in the perceptions of people who might otherwise consider investing or setting up business in the area.

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to Mungecrundle | 5 years ago
2 likes

Mungecrundle wrote:

Yet again the moronic actions of the few spoil the reputation of a great city.

There is no collective responsibility of fellow Mancunians for the behaviour of the imbeciles, yet the commercial reality is that this company has been forced to remove a service that was valued by many and the city gets another question mark against it in the perceptions of people who might otherwise consider investing or setting up business in the area.

That's a bit over the top. I hardly think that a few bikes, that littered the pavement, being removed is going to have a significant effect to the local economy. I wonder if this is the real reason Man Utd have failed to attract top players... If a bike is good enough Shakira's husband...

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet replied to Mungecrundle | 5 years ago
2 likes

Mungecrundle wrote:

Yet again the moronic actions of the few spoil the reputation of a great city.

//media.giphy.com/media/p0RDMJGgMXF96/giphy.gif)

//media.giphy.com/media/13C9Ls0jJOKJLq/200.gif)

Avatar
simonmb | 5 years ago
2 likes

Fundamentally, the mass of people in today's societies don't have the ability to 'share' without responsibility (in bike-share case, returning to a fixed point). As a mass, 'we' care only for things we possess. I can't see how anyone thought these dockless schemes would ever work. 

Are there global instances of dockless bike-share schemes being a success?

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to simonmb | 5 years ago
1 like

simonmb wrote:

Fundamentally, the mass of people in today's societies don't have the ability to 'share' without responsibility (in bike-share case, returning to a fixed point). As a mass, 'we' care only for things we possess. I can't see how anyone thought these dockless schemes would ever work. 

Are there global instances of dockless bike-share schemes being a success?

 

I am doubtful about the schemes anyway.  Not sure, but I kind of think people using their own bikes is going to be the main alternative to driving, with docked bikes filling in the gaps.  These dockless hire schemes seem a bit questionable in their economics even without lots of vandalism or theft.

 

  There's something parasitical about private schemes clogging up public spaces with vast numbers of undocked bikes (though the space taken up by all those taxi ranks isn't any better!  But at least they are confined to designated spaces).

 

At least it's not only us lawless Brits who make the schemes fail

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2099293/chinese-bike-sha...

Avatar
FlyingPenguin replied to simonmb | 5 years ago
0 likes

simonmb wrote:

Fundamentally, the mass of people in today's societies don't have the ability to 'share' without responsibility (in bike-share case, returning to a fixed point). As a mass, 'we' care only for things we possess. I can't see how anyone thought these dockless schemes would ever work. 

Are there global instances of dockless bike-share schemes being a success?

 

Certainly in China they seem to have good takeup, although "success" is hard to judge at this stage.  I recently spent some time in a large city in south-west China, dockless bikes were everywhere and very much in daily use.  I could pay for a bike straight from WeChat without any new apps, they were mostly decent enough bikes (albeit too small for those over 5" 10'), and vandalism, whilst present, didn't seem that common.

Why do I say success is hard to judge?

  • There are lots of users, particularly for "final mile" journeys.
  • The bike infrastructure in most Chinese cities is pretty well segregated and it feels safer than riding in European cities, however:
  • They are very much in the expansion stage, growth rather than profit is king, similar to online shopping in the early days, which means flooding markets with bikes to build market share.
  • The problem of excess bikes and bike graveyards are very real, as are piles (yes, literal piles) of bikes in public spaces.
  • Consolidation is inevitable and firms are failing, Ofo may be the next to go.

The problems do however appear to be ones of competition and the lack of balance between  corporate plans and civic responsibilities, rather than lack of demand or lack of respect for bikes.  That balance will be found, the market will consolidate, it's very unlikely that the schemes (as a whole) will dissappear.

Avatar
CygnusX1 replied to FlyingPenguin | 5 years ago
0 likes

FlyingPenguin wrote:

simonmb wrote:

Fundamentally, the mass of people in today's societies don't have the ability to 'share' without responsibility (in bike-share case, returning to a fixed point). As a mass, 'we' care only for things we possess. I can't see how anyone thought these dockless schemes would ever work. 

Are there global instances of dockless bike-share schemes being a success?

 

Certainly in China they seem to have good takeup, although "success" is hard to judge at this stage.  I recently spent some time in a large city in south-west China, dockless bikes were everywhere and very much in daily use. 

[snip]

 

  • The problem of excess bikes and bike graveyards are very real, as are piles (yes, literal piles) of bikes in public spaces.

Quite how thousands (if not millions) of bikes in graveyards can be considered a success, I have no idea, but the nimber of lost/stolen/damaged ibikes incurred in the UK pales into insignifiance by comparison: 

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2018/may/01/unexpected-beauty...

Avatar
FlyingPenguin replied to CygnusX1 | 5 years ago
1 like

CygnusX1 wrote:

FlyingPenguin wrote:

simonmb wrote:

Fundamentally, the mass of people in today's societies don't have the ability to 'share' without responsibility (in bike-share case, returning to a fixed point). As a mass, 'we' care only for things we possess. I can't see how anyone thought these dockless schemes would ever work. 

Are there global instances of dockless bike-share schemes being a success?

 

Certainly in China they seem to have good takeup, although "success" is hard to judge at this stage.  I recently spent some time in a large city in south-west China, dockless bikes were everywhere and very much in daily use. 

[snip]

 

  • The problem of excess bikes and bike graveyards are very real, as are piles (yes, literal piles) of bikes in public spaces.

Quite how thousands (if not millions) of bikes in graveyards can be considered a success, I have no idea, but the nimber of lost/stolen/damaged ibikes incurred in the UK pales into insignifiance by comparison: 

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2018/may/01/unexpected-beauty...

 

It's an artefact of the intense competition, a gold rush on two wheels.  The weaker players will fail, the market will correct.  The bikes not removed are being used day in, day out.  The number of bikes involved is so mind-bogglingly large that the hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of removals represent a relatively small percentage.

Stand on any main street in a major Chinese city (hilly cities like Chongqing excepted) in the rush hour, you will see a near constant stream of dockless bikes filling the bike lanes both ways that puts London's CS routes to shame.  They have nearly completely replaced private bikes in the centre of many cities and enticed lots of people that didn't used to cycle (such as my, ahem, "not very sporty" relatives) back onto the roads.

In summary:

  • More people are cycling
  • The bikes are being used day in and day out
  • They are affordable by the vast majority of people living in the coverage area
  • The percentage vandalism is much lower than Manchester
  • The market is likely to see some consolidation after the current growth slows
  • And yes, there are some typically Chinese problems (primarily dumping of bikes everywhere) that will either be sorted by the companies, or by local authorities if the companies don't get a handle on it

It's not an unqualified success, but definitely not something to write off entirely....

Avatar
velochris | 5 years ago
2 likes

I received my credit yesterday. An excellent scheme that was cost effective to use, convenient and quite fun.

Those who spoilt it for the rest should be ashamed. Sadly they will probably laugh about it.

Avatar
CygnusX1 replied to velochris | 5 years ago
0 likes

velochris wrote:

I received my credit yesterday. An excellent scheme that was cost effective to use, convenient and quite fun. Those who spoilt it for the rest should be ashamed. Sadly they will probably laugh about it.

I downloaded the app but never got as far as parting with a deposit. The initial fleet of bikes were too few and so were sparsely distributed - there was never one nearby.  Walk 10 minutes the wrong way for a bike that may not be there when you get there, or walk 5 minutes to the nearest tramstop? Tram wins.    

I did use the ofo bikes in Sheffield a few times (used to cycle to Piccadilly on a clunker, lock it up, get the train and hop on an ofo at the other end) but now take the clunker on the train 

The sheffield  ofo bike have gone now too, I don't think it was down to the loss of my custom though:

https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/yellow-scan-and-go-hireable-bikes-to-with...

Avatar
CygnusX1 | 5 years ago
3 likes

Will have to grab the one left littering the canal path after being dredged up by magnet fisherss as my n+1 then! Suddenly collectable. 

Latest Comments