Mobike is coming to the Gold Coast and it’s adamant it won’t be abused like other bikeshares

CONSIDERING the number of sharebikes at the bottom of rivers and up trees, Aussies clearly can’t stand them — but one company thinks it has the answer.

AUSTRALIA, we have a problem.

When sharebikes turned up in some of our biggest cities overnight it was supposed to be an environmentally-friendly revolution.

Instead, hundreds of people took offence at the intrusion, dropping the bikes in rivers, pitching them up trees and even taping them to streetlights.

In Sydney and Melbourne at least, the introduction of the dockless, smartphone-accessible bikes has been nothing short of an expensive disaster.

But one bikeshare company thinks its entry into the Australian market will be different.

Chinese company Mobike hits the Gold Coast in January. Chris Martin, the vice-president of International for Mobike, said the company is “not at all worried” about vandals attacking their bikes.

And it’s all because of its partnership with Gold Coast City Council.

“We’re simply an extension of transport brought in by the Palaszczuk government and they’re completely behind us. Gold Coast Transport Department were incredibly visionary in the way that they approached us,” he said.

Mobike is hitting the Gold Coast in January.

The Beijing-born company might only be a-year-and-a-half old since it launched in April, 2016 but it’s already one of the biggest bikeshare companies on the market.

Mr Martin had a number of ideas as to why Sydneysiders and Melburnians have angrily rejected bikesharing systems.

“If you’re faceless or unknown and if you appear without any introduction people won’t know if it’s a friend or foe,” he said. “It becomes something that no one owns.”

Mr Martin said the problem lies in the reasons why people would want to throw a bike in the river in the first place.

“We’ve seen incredible success in cities like Milan, Florence, Manchester and Washington D.C and there’s no way people in places like Melbourne, Sydney and they Gold Coast are any less civilised than those people,” he said.

“What the difference was that when we launched in Italy we had the city’s mayors endorsing and pushing our bikes to users. It’ll be the same in the Gold Coast,” he added.

Mobike describes the Gold Coast as a dream location.

Mr Martin said the misuse of bikes in cities such as Sydney and Melbourne could also be attributed to something called the “broken windows theory”.

The criminological theory, first introduced in the 1980s by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, tries to explain urban vandalism.

If there’s one broken window in the street, people will be more enticed to go through the street and break the rest — the same, Mr Martin says, can happen with bikeshares.

“If bikes are not being used or vandalised, they sit around for days and days on end, gathering rubbish and getting trashed. If people see that happening, they’ll be more inclined to copy. It’s a big reason why the community doesn’t respect or protect them,” he said.

oBikes sit pushed over in Melbourne. Picture: James Ross

The Gold Coast will be treated to newly designed Mobikes, which Mr Martin describes as “one of the most premium products on the market”, that will feature internal three-speed gears and surf racks.

Mr Martin had nothing but praise for Gold Coast, saying the city is helping them “save the image of bike sharing and showing how cities can work together”.

“At Mobike, we are constantly trying to fight the backlash of our unscrupulous peers. What we’re doing and how we’re doing it is proper and the Gold Coast has handled it spectacularly.

Mobike will hit the Gold Coast’s glitter strip in January, 2018 dropping 2,000 of its bikes across Southport, Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach and Varsity Lakes.

SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE

Both Melbourne and Sydney have seen the introduction of oBikes — yellow, GPS-tracked rental bicycles that rent for just $1.99 for half an hour, plus $69 membership fee that is refundable on request.

Sydney has also seen the introduction of ReddyGo — red, GPS tracked bikes that rent just $1.99 for half an hour, plus a $99 membership fee that is also refundable on request.

Both companies stipulate customers must leave the bicycles in safe and legal locations where they won’t obstruct pedestrians and other transport.

But it’s hard to think this is what they had in mind.

An oBike left on a tree in Melbourne. Picture: Ian Royall

The angry approach to oBike has been an ongoing issue for Melbourne, with the Mayor considering running them out of town.

On one September day, contractors working for the company fished 42 cycles from the Yarra within four hours.

ReddyGo has also fallen victim to angry residents fed up with the “visual pollution” caused by dockless bikes.

oBikes fished out of Melbourne’s Yarra River. Picture: Facebook