JOHOR BARU: The third-class mentality of city dwellers have been blamed for the failure of bicycle-sharing initiative, oBike, which was part of the Johor Baru Low-Carbon Society Action Plan 2015-2025.
Over 130 bicycles provided around the city since the programme’s inception on Jan 21 has gone missing.
Checks at several oBike stations – Jalan Bukit Timbalan, Jalan Segget and a bus stop in front of the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) headquarters – found that none were available.
It is learned that the disappearance of the bicycles was only noticed a few months ago, which was attributed to the lack of supervision as well as the lackadaisical attitude among the public.
A city council staff who declined to be named said he was clueless as to where the bicycles were.
“All that we know that the programme, which was launched earlier this year, was meant to improve people’s mobility the city centre.
“By downloading the oBike mobile app, users need to pay a rental fee before using the bicycles,” he said when met today.
He said the bicycles were managed by a private company, but the lack of supervision on the usage had led to their disappearance.
“We used to have a lot (of oBikes), but we have no idea where they all went; whether they were stolen or sold as scrap metals.
“We could previously see the bicycles at the main station, but we can’t even find them in the drains now,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johor Baru mayor Amran A Rahman, during the city council’s fullboard meeting said over 130 bicycles were available for public use through oBike, with a RM49 deposit and 50 sen rental for every half an hour.
There are 13 oBike stations located within the municipality.
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