Bikeshare News
Bikeshare company Ofo leaves Dallas with a little going-away present
Bikeshare company Ofo has completely shut down its operations in Dallas, and has left its bicycles as a going-away present.
The Chinese company laid off 70 percent of its U.S. workforce on July 18, and shut down operations in most of the U.S. cities where it was based.
The disposition of its fleet was not officially divulged, but photos emerged showing hundreds of its signature yellow bikes unceremoniously piled up at CMC Recycling, a company in Dallas. Ofo says it is working with CMC to recycle the aluminum.
The company released a statement that said, "As we wind down select markets, we remain committed to environmental sustainability and will continue to donate Ofo bikes in good working condition to local communities and recycle all bikes when they're beyond repair or no longer able to use."
A local spokesman wasn't able to say how many bikes would be salvaged or recycled, but said that all of Ofo's bikes would be removed.
"Generally, because the bikes are GPS-tracked, we're able to collect them all — unless they've been vandalized and the technology has been removed," he said.
Ofo spokesman Tom Sarris told Mashable that its total fleet comprised 40,000 bicycles, with 3,000 donated to organizations in 10 different cities, and more donations to be made in the coming weeks.
The beneficiaries in Dallas include City Square and Bikes for Tykes.
"We want to make sure the bikes stay in the community and go to people who can use them," Sarris said. "They’re not going to the scrap pile." Hmmm.
The only bike-share companies left in Dallas are Lime and and VBikes, based in Garland. Mobike, the Chinese company with the orange bikes, and Spin, which also had orange bikes but discontinued its bike-share program in favor of scooters, are both gone.
