Mobike UK publicly announced that they will no longer be offering the services of their bikes in Salford on Tuesday, November 14.
Mobike’s are a bike-hiring scheme that launched in the Manchester and Salford area in June this year, but they haven’t quite been the success that was initially expected.
After vandalism and bikes being dispersed in obscure places throughout the Greater Manchester area, the company has decided that bikes must be returned within a restricted area in order for the company to continue their use in the city.
Users of the Mobikes are not pleased with the change of location for the bikes. Many have taken to twitter to address their concerns.
https://twitter.com/realdigidave/status/930772822439456776
That would be a 'no' to the question 'are you still operating in Salford?'
Be good to have a reaction from @SalfordCouncil to this news Richard, as there was a lot of publicity from @salford_mayor when Mobike launched & they've just pulled out of our city.
— Pete Liggins (@PeteLiggins) November 15, 2017
Mobike UK referred to the change in the restriction zone to Manchester City Centre as ‘the next phase’ of their development plan in their blog post on Tuesday.
So, essentially the use of Mobike’s in Salford is still available, but parking them in Salford is not.
“The newly applied ‘geo-fence’ electronically tracks bikes to ensure that they stay within a fixed area of operation and may in the future penalize users who deliberately park outside of it,” said Mobike UK.
The bikes have been seen around Manchester with missing wheels, broken locks and some even stranded in the canal.
The overall plan is to increase the use of bicycle’s in Manchester and Salford city centre in a bid to encourage people to use them as an alternative method of transport.
Steve Pyer, GM of Mobike UK said, “Manchester has been a hugely valuable learning experience for us as we launch in the UK. The changes that we are making are designed to improve the customer experience.”
Mobikes are still able to leave the new geo-fenced area, but after use riders are asked to return them within the restricted area.
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