Singapore's big plans for nationwide bike-sharing are no more
Before it's even begun, Singapore has scrapped its ambitious nationwide bike-sharing plan.
The project had been in the works for over a year, and called for thousands of bikes to be laid across the city, as part of the government's plans to make the city more bike-friendly.
The project attracted some 13 companies from all over the world, including Chinese firms Mobike and Ofo -- which are aggressively rolling out their dockless shared bikes back home.
Mobike and Ofo were quick out of the gate ahead of the project, already putting bikes out on Singapore streets to prove they were ready to win some government grant money.
But ironically, their enthusiasm seems to have proven that an official project is unnecessary, after all.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a statement that the bike-sharing firms in the market have "obviated the need for a government-run system backed by government grants."
Mobike, which had just earlier this month launched in Singapore, told Mashable that it "respected the LTA's decision...in recognising the efficiency and potential of dockless solutions."
Mobike and many of its fellow Chinese compatriots are pushing out bikes that lock on their own, without the need to return them to a designated station.
However, French firm Smoove, which had also submitted a bid, said it was "disappointed" with LTA's decision to call off the scheme.
"Disappointed"
Smoove relies on a station system, and has installed its docks in cities such as Chicago, Vancouver and Helsinki.
The plan was first proposed three years ago, as part of the government's scheme to double the cycling network in Singapore to 700km by 2030.
The bike-sharing system was meant to mimic those in cities such as London and Taipei, in which bicycles are loaned, and then later returned to specific docking stations.
LTA had earlier said that the "experiences of docked bicycle-sharing programmes...have been that they typically require public sector funding for sustainability."
This appears to have been upended by the new, dockless bikes out of China.
Yvette is a Viral Content Reporter at Mashable Asia. She was previously reporting for BBC's Singapore bureau and Channel NewsAsia.
