Contrary to an announcement made earlier this year, China-based dockless bike sharing company, ofo (Website), will not be coming to Orlando.
The Beijing-based company is presently found in over 30 different American markets, but as of last week, they will be pulling back to only a handful of cities. After operating in the country for under a year, they have decided to lay off the majority of their staff to “reevaluate markets that present obstacles.”
The following official statement, attributable to Andrew Daley, ofo’s Head of North America, was sent to us by Jordan Levine of ofo Corporate.
“As we continue to bring bikeshare to communities across the globe, ofo has begun to reevaluate markets that present obstacles to new, green transit solutions, and prioritize growth in viable markets that support alternative transportation and allow us to continue to serve our customers.” – Andrew Daley
Ofo is still determining which cities they will continue to operate in but they have stated publicly that they would remain in places like Seattle and San Diego that have “fewer regulatory challenges.”
Orlando residents can still take advantage of a homegrown dockless bike share system though, Juice Bike Share (Website).
Ofo’s pullback from Orlando will likely not be missed, although the hourly charges would have been significantly less than Juice Bike’s $8/hr. As a frequent bike commuter, I believe Orlando needs electric bike share, which can alleviate some of the heat & sweat barriers; would Juice consider? Also, Juice Bike is technically not dockless – it does use docking stations, although for an additional fee one can park it anywhere.