With Mobike leaving, Singapore’s bike-sharing boom looks over. Here’s what’s next

Photo credit: Kentaro IEMOTO

When Mobike last week confirmed its intention to quit the Singapore market, it marked the end of an era.

While a number of smaller players still operate in the market, the boom days for bike-sharing in the Lion City appear to be done – and another type of two-wheeler transport may be about to take its place.

End of the affair?

Given the experiences of oBike and Ofo – both of which have failed to remove their bicycles from public spaces after ceasing operations – Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) may feel hard-pressed to grant more licenses for dockless bike fleets running into the tens of thousands.

The city-state has had a whirlwind romance with bike-sharing. Used by riders for only a few minutes here and there, dockless bikes were often found loitering outside train stations and bus stops, or languishing on roadside verges, public pathways, and in drainage ditches.

For their part, bike-share companies burned oodles of cash on handing out seemingly endless freebies and trying to complete the Sisyphean task of replacing and maintaining tens of thousands of bicycles that were lost or damaged – unwittingly or otherwise – by their users.

See: Bike-sharing may struggle to survive amid toughening regulation

Nevertheless, there is still a future for this mode of two-wheel transport in Singapore. Despite signaling its intention to exit the market, Mobike – the last of the “big three” players still operating in the city-state – is exploring the possibility of donating its license and perhaps some of its assets to an existing bike-share operator.

Late last week, LTA revealed that it had extended Ofo’s deadline for removing its bicycles from Singapore’s streets as the company is said to be in “advanced stages of negotiations” with potential partners who could carry on its local business.

Impounded Mobike and oBike cycles in Singapore / Photo credit: Land Transport Authority

Moreover, some smaller operators seem to be faring better than their bigger competitors.

Singaporean bike-sharing startup Anywheel obtained a sandbox license from LTA last year, and has since applied to graduate to a full license so it can substantially increase its fleet. It has also applied for a license to run a sharing service for personal mobility devices (PMDs) or e-scooters.

Anywheel had not replied to Tech in Asia’s request for comment at the time of publication.

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