05-28-2017 12:24 PM
As we all know Singapore is one of the busy cities. I came to Singapore for a holiday and Checked in to many places. Today while walking on road I saw a cycle with the name "ofo". One of my friend told me to cheque this out. So I became more curious and checked the cycle. This was a little Yellow color bike with all the instructions written. It was all about an app and it was free for ride when I picked on for a ride.
What I did was quickly downloaded the app, registered myself and unlocked the cycle and had a refreshing ride. This is really awesome and whoever come Singapore should try this ofo bikes if you love cycling.
Also there were few more cycles found in the parking area (OBIKE). Those bikes are by different providers, also some of them had charges for each ride.
05-28-2017 12:46 PM
You beat me to it!
I have yet to try it!
Coz i have a bike at home huhuhu
It's actually very new too. Was a hot topic recently.
Hope you enjoyed it!
05-28-2017 12:49 PM
@Shirni haha ha. Yes it's a new one. My cousin told it's still under testing. But I love that little bike 🙂
05-28-2017 04:11 PM
Whoa? Seriously.. free? I would definitely use this! I rented a bike a few years ago in Singapore, and had a really good time exploring the city this way. Hopefully the service will still be available for my next visit to Singapore (whenever that is..)
05-28-2017 04:13 PM
Love the interface and the system, seems very easy and effective!
Hope will work!
05-28-2017 11:33 PM
Hi @iyudhi yeh it's free but it's under testing. Also my cousin said it will cost $0.50 per trip after the testing period also some free coupons.
The cost for oBike usage is $1 per half-hour.
Still this ofo bike is cheap even they introduce $0.50 per trip.
Check this article: http://www.littledayout.com/2017/02/24/bike-sharing-singapore-ofo-obike/
@LucioV@ Seriously I love this little yellow bike. Yesterday night myself and cousin was riding this bike until 1am.
05-30-2017 01:32 AM
Hi @IlankovanT, yeah these are pretty new. The bike companies just started up a few months back. I think they are still adjusting on how to operate, and things are changing every month. So if you come back again, it might not be free anymore, or the payment structure might be different.
Anyhow it's interesting to see how it develops.
As you mentioned, there are three companies. ofo, obike, mobike for now, each one works differently and you need separate apps. What a pain.
I don't currently use it as my commute doesn't fit it in but maybe I will try it out sometime. I haven't actually seen ofo bike near my house, maybe they need to provide more bikes.
Weird thing is that so many people are abusing the bikes like keeping it in their own home or dumping it in inaccessible areas or even drains. How inconsiderate.
05-30-2017 05:15 AM
Thanks for the additional information on this ofo bikes @JulienH. yeah it's true my cousin also told me the same "keeping it in their own home or dumping it in inaccessible areas" 😄
05-30-2017 05:19 AM
Hi @IlankovanT
Thank you for sharing. I have to say, with the available technology, such cool things can be achieved.
The first free bike movement that I am aware off, dates back from the mid sixties (I wasn't born just yet, lol) which was called the White Movement (part of the Dutch Provo political movement) and the bikes were called White Bikes. The concept has spread around the world, but as far as I know, failed in many places. In recent years, I have seen shared bikes again, but they were are clearly paid programs. None of the parked bikes had the clear instructions that you just showed, so as a tourist I did not understand how to get hold of the key of such a bike. It seems that these companies in Singapore have figured it out. I am sad to hear though that already in these early stages, people are not showing respect to the ethos of the initiative and abuse the system.
Fortunately, with the new App, they can of course track who was the last person to use a bike and with a chip should be able to GPS locate the bikes. If people are charged, they could also be charged a fine, like they do in libraries when you do not bring back your books in time.