Overview
Dockless bike sharing services have had a tough go of it here in Australia, with local council crackdowns on bicycle dumping and vandalism issues driving most new operators out of town after mere months.
In fact, 12-month-old Mobike (the orange ones) and Californian newcomer Lime (the green ones) are the only two players to remain in NSW, despite new figures showing that Sydneysiders are taking over 22,000 share bike trips each week.
Mobike's revealed it's clocked up over half a million rides in its first year of life, while Lime claims its e-bikes have made over 30,000 trips since launching here four weeks ago.
Now, to help support our apparent two-wheeled obsession and avoid the rogue vehicles ending up in unwanted places, City of Sydney has plans to trial a series of dedicated bike share parking bays.
The six new parking bays will be located in Martin Place, Market Street near Pitt Street Mall, Castlereagh Street, Central Station, Green Square, Redfern and Ultimo. They'll be located next to existing regular bike racks and identified by stickers reading 'You can park share bikes here'.
"We've used data provided by bike share companies to help pinpoint several of the most popular places people leave share bikes," a City of Sydney spokesperson told Concrete Playground. "The parking areas are designed to ensure people using share bikes park them considerately and in appropriate places, to keep our pavements clutter free and accessible for all."
The good news is, if none of these bays are near your destination, you don't have to park in one, with the CoS telling News Corp that the bays are just meant to help "highlight recommended areas". But, local laws and regulations surrounding bike sharing have been fast-moving since the embattled bikes were first introduced a couple of years ago, so this could change in the near future.