Uber-owned company to debut electric bike share scheme in Melbourne
Previously dumped dockless rental bikes will soon make their return to Melbourne — two years after a similar scheme was axed when countless bicycles were infamously abandoned by users and left strewn around the city.
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Dockless rental bikes will return to the streets of Melbourne nearly two years after the oBike fiasco, with Uber’s orange and electric Jump fleet rolling out to three local councils.
Riders will be able to use the ride-sharing giant’s app to find about 400 electric bicycles within the boundaries of Melbourne, Yarra and Port Phillip from March this year.
The scheme will run over a 12-month trial as a replacement service for the city’s long-running “blue bike” scheme, which was dumped because of poor patronage.
But authorities swear they have learned their lesson after Melbourne’s last dockless program, the oBike, vandalised the city and bicycles were thrown into trees and the Yarra.
A signed memorandum of understanding will outline how the e-bikes should be parked to prevent clogging up footpaths and be regularly available in areas where demand is highest.
It also sets out strict time frames for Jump to recover damaged or discarded bikes, with location technology to ensure bikes can be found and don’t leave council boundaries.
Anyone who misuses or incorrectly parks their ride could also be fined or banned via the Uber app.
City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said share bike schemes were common around the world and did not experience the “anti-social behaviour” seen with oBikes.
“Importantly, this agreement doesn’t stop at council boundaries, which will make it easier and more convenient for locals and visitors to explore inner Melbourne on an e-bike,” she said.
“We believe locals and visitors will work with Jump and our councils to make this a success.”
Jump general manager Henry Greenacre said the e-bikes would have built in cable locks.
“Electric bikes have a motor that provides an extra boost above and beyond a normal bike,” he said.
“Helmets will be provided alongside Jump’s distinctive red electric bikes and users will get in-app instructions about how to safely use and park the e-bikes.”
Melbourne’s $2 million-a-year blue bike scheme was abandoned in August last year and left tourists and regular cyclists without a bike share scheme in the city.
Social enterprise Good Cycles, who maintained the old fleet, will also service the new bicycles over the course of the trial.
Stuart Outhred, the RACV’s senior planner of mobility futures, said the organisation supported the benefits of the program.
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“We are pleased with people in Melbourne having more choice in how they get around, but we need a more consistent framework,” he said.
City of Yarra Mayor Misha Coleman said she had owned an e-bike for seven years.
“Yarra is keen to support the trial of Jump e-bikes, and I really hope it will encourage locals and visitors to make the switch to sustainable transport,” she said.