Share bike operator oBike set to leave Melbourne but another one on the way

OBIKE may be set to abandon Melbourne but — in a changing of the wheel guard — another operator is close finalising an agreement with several councils.

GOODBYE oBike … hello Mobike.

The departure of one share bicycle scheme from Melbourne is soon to be followed by the arrival of another.

The operators of Mobike are close to finalising an agreement with Melbourne, Port Phillip and Yarra councils, the Herald Sun can confirm.

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Mobike Australia CEO Mina Nada. Picture: Supplied

Mobike Australia chief executive Mina Nada said the Beijing-based company was different from oBike and pledged better bikes and better service.

“We have a vision of how to do bike share right. We are confident we have the best product on the market and we are serious about being a part of the transport infrastructure.’’

No definite start date has been announced but Mobike is well advanced in its planning and has even been involved in community events in Melbourne including one at La Trobe University.

Mobike has been operating in Sydney since November.

The orange and silver Mobike. Picture: supplied

It comes as oBike is preparing to withdraw from Victoria, just 12 months after setting up.

Fewer bikes had been sighted in Melbourne in recent months, with Tuesday’s confirmation that the Singapore-based company was abandoning the city.

Its storage location in Nunawading was recently cleared of bikes. oBike management did not respond to requests for comment.

The abandoned oBike depot in Nunawading.

The news follows a crackdown by the Environment Protection Authority which said it would issue $3000 fines to oBike for discarded bikes from June 6.

EPA chief executive Nial Finegan said the company behind the oBike scheme in Melbourne still had to remember their obligations to protect the environment.

“Any bikes they leave behind can be treated as abandoned under the Environment Protection Act 1970. Authorities can collect them and then send the bill to the oBike owners,’’ Mr Finegan said.

When oBikes were stored in Nunawading. Picture: Alex Coppel

Since Last June about 4000 dockless oBikes were left on Melbourne’s streets with little community information or engagement.

The yellow bikes became the target of residents’ derision with many cycles being vandalised, thrown up trees and dozens ending up in the city’s waterways.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said users should stop riding oBikes so they can be cleared from the streets.

The council would help with the clean-up, Cr Capp said.

Yarra Riverkeeper Andrew Kelly with dozens of oBikes fished out of the Yarra. Picture: David Crosling

“What’s made it very difficult for everybody involved is the behaviour of people using the oBikes.

“(It’s) really added a degree of difficulty to the way these issues have played out,” she said.

The management of oBike had signed a memorandum of understanding with Melbourne, Port Phillip and Yarra councils last October.

An impound officer with some of the Obikes fished from the Yarra or vandalised at the City Impound Yard. Picture: David Caird

Port Phillip mayor Bernadene Voss confirmed oBike was leaving her municipality.

“We have done what we could under a Memorandum of Understanding with oBike but only the Victorian Government has the power to make regulations to manage this new form of transport which clearly isn’t going away,” Cr Voss said.

Share bike operator oBike looks set to abandon Melbourne less than 12 months since setting up on the city’s streets.

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Share bike rival ofo was also in talks with the Melbourne City Council after running its bikes in Adelaide and Sydney.

But Reddy Go, which has set up in Sydney, confirmed it had ruled out expanding into Melbourne.

@IanRoyall