Bike-sharing service offering rental anywhere through mobile app rides into Hong Kong

Gobee.bike will have 400 bicycles around town that can be unlocked with QR codes

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A Gobee.bike staff member demonstrates the use of QR code scanning on the mobile phone to unlock the service. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 9:30pm, 19 Apr 2017Updated: 2:22pm, 24 Apr 2017

Hong Kong is finally jumping on the bandwagon – or bicycle – of the bike-sharing trend which has taken the mainland by storm. Starting Thursday, cyclists can use more than 400 smart bicycles in the New Territories by simply scanning a QR code.

Start-up Gobee.bike, founded by Hong Kong-based entrepreneur Raphael Cohen two months ago, aims to offer busy people an easy option for short distance commute. The service works by allowing cyclists to rent and drop off bicycles around the city.

Following the success stories of mainland counterparts such as Ofo, which runs in 50 Chinese cities and has a market value that jumped to US$2 billion (HK$15.5 billion) in less than two years, Cohen said Hong Kong also had a huge potential for the business model.

“We are here to make transportation convenient and affordable,” he added. A ride on a Gobee bike will cost HK$5 per half hour. Currently, bike rentals for leisure purposes cost HK$40 per day in Tai Po.

Cohen said that there was a great demand for bike-sharing in a city like Hong Kong, where people walked considerable distances between public transport stops. Bicycles would ideally fill this gap.

To rent a Gobee bike powered by solar panels, users will need to log into a mobile application, register their credit card and pay a deposit of HK$399. An active map will locate the nearest bicycle which can be unlocked by scanning a QR code.