Ofo named frontrunner to deliver Leeds dockless cycle hire scheme

Leeds City Council has today revealed that it will follow many other UK cities by moving to introduce a dockless hire bike scheme.

Soon to be discussed by senior councillors, it is believed that Ofo are the front runners to deliver the scheme, having already delivered similar for Sheffield, Oxford, London, Norwich and Cambridge.

Joseph Seal-Driver, Ofo’s UK General Manager, told CI.N: “The decision is subject to an ongoing process with Leeds Council, but we’re delighted to be a front-runner. We launched our first scheme in Yorkshire in Sheffield at the start of the year and it’s proved a great success. We’re eager to emulate that in Leeds and give people the same access a convenient, fun and healthy travel option.”

Outlined as part of a report to Leeds City Council’s executive board on 7 February 2018, members will have an opportunity to assess and approve the scheme which could be introduced as early as the spring of this year.

The Leeds scheme will initially run for 12 months in the city centre and surrounding areas. If successful, the aim is to expand the scheme further into the suburbs and towns as quickly as possible, according to the council.

In November of 2017 Ofo told CI.N that its steep growth curve looks set to continue with Seal-Driver stating: “The curve is extraordinary, we were in only three countries in May. If you consider that Ofo has been operational since just 2014 where it started life in Peking’s University, the business now has 10 million bikes in 180 cities and racks up 32 million journeys per day. In London, despite our relative youth, we are already seeing 3 to 4 hires per bike, per day. That’s more than the docked offering and they cost £200,000 to install with the tax payer footing the bill. This makes better sense for cities and is the key to unlocking a genuine cycling revolution.”