Sustainable Travel: Mobike dominating the UK
Since launching in Newcastle, Mobike, the world’s largest smart bike sharing platform, has fit in to the culture of city effortlessly. To the point that on the 27th of February the organisation announced that an additional 500 bikes will become available, adding to the 450 already in use. The Mobike operating area will also be expanded to accommodate this increase in availability.
The expansion comes after discussions with the local authorities and councils and is in following with Newcastle’s significant investment in cycling infrastructure in the past few years. This is part of it’s ambition to support sustainable travel by becoming one of the UK’s eight ‘Cycle Ambition Cities’, a scheme set up three years ago by Nick Clegg whereby a £114 million investment was made, to be used by these cities to deliver plans to get more people cycling by improving and expanding cycle routes between the city centres, local communities and key employment and retail spots (per gov.uk).
Mobike originally launched three years ago and, by December 2017, had eight million bikes in operation being used by over 200 million registered users. Midway through 2017, they launched their operations in the UK trialling in Manchester, before successfully branching out to various cities across the country.
The service is designed for short, urban trips to help reduce congestion and the amount of pollutants within the city. Whilst being environmentally friendly it is also healthy alternative form of transport for users, the free Mobike app can be used to keep a track of both your distance covered and calories burned.
Mobike is easy to use and accessible by pretty much anyone, which has led to this increase in demand for bikes. To begin you simply download app and pay the £29 deposit, then scan the code on the bike you would like to ride. Riders will be charged 50p for 30 minutes after this initial deposit, and once you have reached your destination, you just find a suitable parking place and manually close the lock to end your ride.
The organisation is one of the leading lights in sustainable travel, recently picking up two iF Design Awards at the event held in Munich, one of the most prestigious design competitions in the world. This comes shortly after they were named among the 2017 Champions of the Earth by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), receiving the award in the Entrepreneurial Vision category.
They are constantly expanding their reach, if you feel the service would benefit your local area, you can ‘Request Mobike’ to set up their services near you by filling in an anonymous, online form.
The second Mobike White Paper, a global statistical analysis of Mobike’s operations, shows that as of December 2017 service users had collectively cycled over 18.2 billion km, equivalent to avoiding 4.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. The White Paper also outlines the distinct riding styles of each city, its impact on the weather and air quality, and the improved accessibility to both education and jobs.
A plan for the future is set in place with the organisation hoping to reach over 500 million people in 500 cities worldwide. If they were ever to hit this target and every user cycled for 30 minutes a day, replacing 10-20% of short car trips, between 30-60 million tonnes of CO2 emissions would be avoided saving up to £1.8 billion every year. To read more into the impact Mobike is having, you can access the White Paper here.
Cllr Arlene Ainsley, Cabinet member for transport and air quality at Newcastle City Council, said of Mobike, “Like many cities, one of our major transport priorities is to reduce congestion and pollution which is caused by traffic. These problems have a negative impact on both our local economy and our health.
“One of the ways we can all make a difference is by making fewer journeys by car – particularly those shorter journeys across town which can often put a big strain on our road network.” (per Newcastle.gov.uk).
Sarah Roe from Sustrans North had this to say about Mobike and its growth in the city, “We are really supportive of anything that gets more people cycling. The growth of MoBike allows more people to try out cycling and combine it with public transport. There are also lots more bicycles visible in the city which helps build the image of a cycle friendly city.
“Of course the real issue is that many people don’t yet feel safe to cycle on the roads and we need more protected cycle lanes to help them do that. Our research in the Bike Life report shows that people want more protected bike routes to make cycling safer, even when this could mean less space for other road traffic.”
Local Geordies have also been giving their opinion on the service and the benefits they have found since it was introduced. Liam, 27, says uses Mobike as often as he can, “I use the service for exercise, it’s a really great idea that you can scan and ride, it’s really cheap too.”
Carlton Reid, Ouseburn resident and editor of BikeBiz.com, says that although he rarely uses the service, as he owns 20+ bikes, “when in need, they’re brilliant as [a] ‘last mile’ solution”, however he feels the bikes themselves could do with gears.
Mobike are currently working on bikes that have gears, as well as adjustable seating, however there’s another issue that’s not quite as easy to fix. Unfortunately the bikes have been subject to vandalism, with the Guardian reporting in November that “in the UK bikes have been hacked, vandalized and thrown on railway tracks.”
Although the problem has eased since the bikes were first introduced in Manchester, it can still be seen regularly on Twitter using #MobikeMovement. In China, Mobike responded to this behaviour by establishing a rider grading system based on how responsibly users ride, with prices soaring for those rated poorly. Although yet to be introduced in the UK, it may be something Mobike UK look into if this trouble persists.