Beijing-based Ofo helped pave the way for dockless bike-sharing internationally, making available 40,000 bicycles in more than 30 U.S. cities. But Ofo's U.S. operations are now pedaling backward. CGTN's Mark Niu reports from San Francisco.
The company is laying off staff, while pulling out of markets like Washington DC, San Diego, and likely many more to come.
Each U.S. city has its own regulations; leading Ofo to criticize Chicago for giving more permits to bikes that locked to something, as opposed to Ofo's, which lock on their own.
In San Francisco, the city did not grant Ofo bike-sharing permits.
But Ofo's still awaiting word on its application to be granted permits for the latest trend here — electric kick scooters.
A 2018 survey from Populus Technologies found that in less than one year since the introduction of the electric scooter, 3.6 percent of adults in cities – where shared scooters are available – had used the devices. That's a faster adoption rate than both bike-sharing and even car-sharing.
Ofo's not alone in making the transition in U.S. markets.
The San Francisco company Spin is in the process of converting all of its shared bikes to shared scooters.
While Weinstein Agrawal sees dockless bikes and scooters sharing U.S. roads, she said it will take time for cities and riders to come up with the most sensible rules.
CGTN's Mike Walter discusses the global bike-sharing market with Yu Zhang.