Skip to main content

Ofo ‘scales back’ bike sharing operations in US

Chinese bike sharing company Ofo is scaling back its US operations and has laid off employees from multiple departments. The move, according to a report by Quartz, will allow the company to refocus on markets in a bid to become profitable. The start-up plans to continue operating in US cities such as Seattle, San Diego and New York. According to Quartz, the company is also leaving Australia and Israel and reducing operations in the UK. The company operates yellow bicycles which riders can rent thro
July 24, 2018 Read time: 1 min
Chinese bike sharing company Ofo is scaling back its US operations and has laid off employees from multiple departments. The move, according to a report by %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Quartz false https://qz.com/1331368/bike-sharing-company-ofo-is-dramatically-scaling-back-in-north-america/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Issue:%202018-07-20%20Smart%20Cities%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:16284%5D&amp;utm_term=Smart%20Cities%20Dive false false%>, will allow the company to refocus on markets in a bid to become profitable.


The start-up plans to continue operating in US cities such as Seattle, San Diego and New York.

According to Quartz, the company is also leaving Australia and Israel and reducing operations in the UK.

The company operates yellow bicycles which riders can rent through a mobile app for around £1 per minute or one hour ride, depending on the city.

Ofo was founded in 2014 by students at Beijing’s Peking University and entered the US last year with the intention of offering a transportation option that could cover first- or last-mile trips.

Related Content

  • Two weeks left to purchase early bird tickets for MaaS Market, London
    January 4, 2018
    Delegates have until 19 January to take advantage of the discounted £325 ($240) Early Bird tickets for ITS International‘s second MaaS Market – Concept to Delivery conference in London on 20 and 21 February. This year’s event will focus on the progress and obstacles faced by MaaS projects across Europe and will consist of presentations from Portugal, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Hamburg plus Birmingham, Manchester and Dundee from the UK. The programme will cover the political and regulatory implications,
  • Tecsidel Toll Systems & ITS shows MEP web platform
    March 19, 2018
    Tecsidel Toll Systems & ITS, a multi-national company focused on the development and integration of advanced information systems for tolling operations, is showcasing its TMMS+ and MEP systems at Intertraffic.
  • MaaS Market London tackles transport firms’ big question
    February 6, 2019
    Will Mobility as a Service (MaaS) destroy public transport as we know it? That’s the question representatives from the taxi, bus, rail and multi-modal sectors will consider in ‘The role of vertical transport providers’, the opening session of the 2019 MaaS Market Conference (London, 20-21 March). Amid growing evidence of traditional transport operators losing out to the new mobility providers, particularly in urban areas, the panel session will debate the potential and actual benefits and pitfalls of par
  • West Midlands to become UK testing centre for C/AVs
    June 7, 2018
    Midlands Future Mobility consortium will turn 50 miles of roads in Coventry and Birmingham into a UK testing centre to develop connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) and related technologies. These networked roads will feature smart vehicle monitoring, data analytics and 5G wireless infrastructure. The consortium, consisting of industry and academic professionals, intends to enable industries to carry out tests using real-world environments. The consortium is led by WMG, University of Warwick and