New fleet of share bikes to roll onto city streets

A new bike-share company is set to roll out its fleet, undeterred that other operators’ bikes were found vandalised.

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A new bike-share company is set to launch its fleet in the city within the next fortnight, undeterred by the failings of previous operators.

Airbike will launch a fleet of about 20 dockless bikes on to city streets within the next two weeks, with the number set to increase to about 200 by the end of the year.

It comes following the failure of previous companies ofo and Obike, which both copped an angry backlash from residents over dumped and abandoned bikes.

In one case, a severely vision-impaired woman had been walking into and falling over dockless bikes parked on tactile surfaces for the blind.

An Ofo bike in a tree on the bike path in the east parklands. Picture: Dulwich Island Bike/Twitter

An Ofo helmut on North Adelaide Golf Course. Picture: AAP Image/Brenton Edwards

Eighteen complaints in total were received and Adelaide City Council has been referring them to the operators.

Airbike operations manager Matthew Creen said vandalism “is obviously a risk”, but he is confident his business has learnt from the mistakes of other businesses.

“We are going in on a small scale at first,” Mr Creen said.

“Gradually over time we will work out what would be the perfect supply so it is not in your face and clogging up the streets and the footpaths.”

Adelaide City Council has granted temporary permits to two e-scooter companies — Beam and RIDE — as a sustainable form of transport across the CBD.