 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Transportation |
| Founded | March 2017 operating since May 2017 |
Area served | |
| Products | Bicycle-sharing services |
| Website | yobike |
YoBike was the UK's first dockless bicycle sharing company, founded in early 2017. The bikes are unlocked via YoBike's smartphone app. YoBike first launched in Bristol in May 2017, followed by Southampton in September 2017, but had ceased operations in both cities by 2021.
YoBike was co-founded by Bin Wang and Michael Qian in early 2017, citing Bristol's strong cycling culture as a main factor in their decision to launch. [1] In early May 2017, 300 initial bicycles were deployed in Bristol. [2]
In 2017 the cost were £1 per hour, with a daily cap of £5; an annual commuter pass was £39 entitling a rider to two one-hour long journeys each day. [3] Whilst bikes were allowed to be parked anywhere, the YoBike app indicates suggested parking areas to promote good cycling habits. [4]
Against early claims of illegal parking, YoBike offered users a 50p discount on their rides if illegally parked bikes were returned to the central Bristol area. [5] In mid-September, YoBike launched 300 bikes in Southampton (however, the company has pulled out of the city in August 2019). [6] [7]
As of April 2018, YoBike had a fleet of 1000 bikes in Bristol, 300 bikes in Southampton and around 1000 bikes in Singapore, Mexico City, and Austin, Texas. [8] It announced expansion into France and China. [8]
YoBike ceased hire operations in Southampton in August 2019 [9] and in Bristol in March 2021. [10]
The business continues to operate internationally through its white-label operations, such as 'IndigoWeel' in France. [11]
YoBike members use the YoBike app on their phones to locate nearby bicycles. Each bicycle is equipped with a smart lock which is accessed via Bluetooth. [3] They use the app to scan the QR code and unlock the bike, and then manually lock the bike in a designated parking zone. In addition, YoBike users can suggest parking places via the YoBike app. [12]
A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost.
OYBike was a bicycle sharing scheme in west London, Reading, Farnborough and Cardiff in the United Kingdom. The Cardiff scheme ended 23 December 2011 with OYBike citing a lack of ongoing sponsorship.
Vélib' Métropole is a large-scale public bicycle sharing system in Paris, France. The system encompasses more than 16,000 bikes and 1,400 stations. The name Vélib' is a portmanteau of the French words vélo ("bicycle") and liberté ("freedom").
Smoove is a French company that designs, manufactures and markets products related to bike-sharing. The company produces lightweight bike stands that require virtually no civil engineering and no electricity.
Dublinbikes is a public bicycle rental scheme which has operated in the city of Dublin since 2009. At its launch, the scheme, which is sponsored by JCDecaux, used 450 French-made unisex bicycles with 40 stations. By 2011, this had expanded to 550 bicycles and 44 stations, and in 2013 it was announced that a major expansion of the scheme would add a further 950 bikes and another 58 hire points. Dublin was the 17th city to implement such a scheme, and it was considered one of the most successful bike-sharing schemes in the world; however, in recent times, progress has stalled, with only 2 of 14 phases being rolled out. As of 2016 the scheme lost €376,000 a year, leading to further expansion of Dublin Bikes being put on hold.
Santander Cycles is a public bicycle hire scheme in London in the United Kingdom. The scheme's bicycles are popularly and colloquially known as Boris Bikes, after Boris Johnson who was Mayor of London when the scheme began operating.
nextbike is a German company that develops and operates public bike-sharing systems. The company was founded in Leipzig, Germany, in 2004. As of June 2024, it operates in cities of 20 countries including Germany, UK, Poland, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland. The headquarters with about 100 employees are based in Leipzig. The bicycles and stations are maintained by local service partners. Since 2021, nextbike GmbH has been a wholly owned subsidiary of TIER Mobility. As part of the merger, nextbike turned into the joint brand nextbike by TIER.
Bike Share Toronto is a bicycle-sharing system in Toronto, Ontario, operated by the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA). The system consists of over 9,000 bicycles and over 700 stations, and covers over 200 square kilometres in 21 of the 25 wards of the city, with plans to expand to the entire city by 2025.
Cycling for transport and leisure enjoys popularity in Greater Manchester and the city also plays a major role in British cycle racing. The Bee Network was launched in 2018. The University of Manchester is home to the Manchester Cycling Lab.
PBSC Urban Solutions, formerly the Public Bike System Company, is an international bicycle-sharing system equipment vendor with their headquarters based in Longueuil, Quebec. The company develops bicycle-sharing systems, equipment, parts, and software, and sells its products to cities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil and more. The company has sold about 100,000 bikes and 9,000 stations to 45 cities.
Santander Cycles MK is a bicycle hire scheme based in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. The scheme is operated by nextbike and sponsored by Santander UK. The scheme launched on 17 June 2016.
Biketown, also known as Biketown PDX, is a bicycle-sharing system in Portland, Oregon, that began operation on July 19, 2016. The system is owned by Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) and operated by Lyft, with Nike, Inc. as the title sponsor. At launch, the system had 100 stations and 1,000 bicycles serving the city's central and eastside neighborhoods, with hopes to expand outward.
Mobike, also known as Meituanbike, founded by Beijing Mobike Technology Co., Ltd., is a fully station-less bicycle-sharing system headquartered in Beijing, China. It is, by the number of bicycles, the world's largest shared bicycle operator, making Shanghai the world's largest bike-share city in December 2016. In April 2018, it was acquired by a Chinese web company Meituan-Dianping for US$2.7 billion.
Ofo, stylised as ofo, was a Beijing-based bicycle sharing company founded in 2014. It used a dockless system with a smartphone app to unlock and locate nearby bicycles, charging an hourly rate for use.
oBike was a Singapore-registered stationless bicycle-sharing system started by businessmen Shi Yi and Edward Chen with operations in several countries. The bikes have a built-in Bluetooth lock and can therefore be left anywhere at the end of a journey, not just at a docking station. Users use a smartphone app to locate and rent bikes. It launched in Singapore in February 2017, and ceased operation on 25 June 2018 in Singapore. Subsequently, the parent company filed for insolvency in its home market. The effect on operations outside of Singapore is unknown.
Jump was a dockless scooter and electric bicycle sharing system operating in the United States, New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Australia. The bikes were a bright red orange and weighed 70 pounds (32 kg). Riders unlocked bikes using the Uber app and were charged to their Uber account.
Jobike is a bicycle sharing system serving the cities of Dhaka, Chittagong and Cox's Bazar. Launched in 2018, it is the first such system in Bangladesh. Currently, there are 300 Jobike bicycles and 5 stations throughout these city, including some university like University of Dhaka, Jahangirnagar University, University of Chittagong, and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, as well as suburban places like Cox's Bazar.
CoGo Bike Share is a public bicycle sharing system serving Columbus, Ohio and its suburbs. The service is operated by the bikeshare company Motivate It was created in July 2013 with 300 bikes and 30 docking stations, since expanded to about 600 bikes and 80 stations. The service is operated in conjunction with the City of Columbus, which owns all equipment.
Forest is a dockless bicycle hire service in London in the United Kingdom. The service charges riders £1 to unlock their ride, and rewards them with 1 minute for parking in borough designated parking areas. As of September 2021, Forest has over 800 bicycles on city streets, making it one of the four main e-bike operators in London, competing with Santander Cycles (docked) and Lime, these services replacing Chinese companies Mobike and Ofo after their insolvencies and removal.