Less than a year after launching in Sydney, two bike sharing companies have called it quits in Sydney. According to The Australian, Reddy Go – the wholly Australian owned bike-share company – informed its members of an impending restructure. In an effort to offload the bikes currently in the city, users have also been invited to take home one of the bikes, which are available to pick up from their warehouse in Alexandria free of charge.
Chinese-founded company Ofo supplied Time Out with a statement from spokesperson Ben Shipley, saying the brand has made a strategic decision to focus on priority markets internationally. “Ofo will therefore wind-down operations in Adelaide and Sydney during the next 60 days. As part of this process Ofo will begin to remove bikes from cities and consolidate them to our warehouses.
This decision does not come lightly, and ofo Australia will act responsibly in each market as it winds down operations, resolving any outstanding concerns before finalising operations.”
Nine News reported that Australia was one of the countries with the poorest uptake for bike sharing compared to their popularity overseas; they said on average share bikes in Sydney were being used for 0.3 trips per day, compared to two to six trips per day in other countries.
Earlier this month Obike, another bike share company that’s still hanging on in Sydney, announced the company were no longer operating in Melbourne.
Time Out has reached out to Reddy Go for comment.
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