Bicycle-sharing scene heats up with Ofo

The bicycle-sharing scene in Singapore is heating up, with a new company setting up shop and an existing player rapidly expanding its fleet of bicycles. The latest entrant into the market is Chinese company Ofo, which has launched about 1,000 bikes in areas such as Punggol and West Coast Park and in the city area. The company, which operates in major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, started operations here last week.

Its direct competitor Obike, a Singapore-based start-up with both local and Chinese investors, already has 'a few thousand' bikes islandwide after it launched a month ago. A company spokesman, who declined to give specifics, said Obike plans to bring in 'tens of thousands' more bikes by the middle of the year.

Both companies have moved to entrench themselves in the local market, ahead of the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) national bike-share scheme due to launch in the fourth quarter of this year.

An Ofo spokesman said the company will progressively expand its fleet of yellow, single-gear bicycles, to provide a convenient mode of transport for residents. "In the future, you'll be able to see an Ofo bike wherever there is a bicycle parking area," said the spokesman in Mandarin.

White Obike bicycles are already available for rent at almost every MRT station.

"Our goal is for consumers to have access to a bike every 200m in an HDB estate," said the Obike spokesman. Both systems are novel in that they do not require users to return the machines at fixed stations - a standard feature of bike-share schemes worldwide. Users unlock the bikes with their mobile phones and can return them at any area where bicycles can be parked.

The eventual fleet size of both players is projected to dwarf that of the LTA's, which is slated to launch with about 2,330 bicycles in Jurong Lake District, Marina Bay, Tampines and Pasir Ris. The LTA's scheme is expected to follow the traditional bike-share model, where users have to rent and return bikes at more than 210 specialised docking stations. When asked if the new entrants would affect the viability of the national scheme, the LTA said they provide more options to the public and greater access to bike sharing, especially in areas not served by its scheme.