Bike-sharing operator Moov granted full license by LTA to operate up to 10,000 bicycles
SINGAPORE - Bike-sharing firm Moov Technology has been given the go-ahead to operate a fleet of up to 10,000 bicycles in Singapore, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Monday (14 October).
LTA said in a media statement that it has given in-principle approval for Moov, which did a soft launch of its services in June, to graduate to a full licence. Moov was granted a sandbox license in April, which allowed it to deploy up to 1,000 bicycles for 12 months.
The move comes after fellow operator Anywheel was granted a full license in April.
On 30 September, LTA delayed for a second time its decision on the awarding of licences to personal mobility device (PMD) and bicycle-sharing operators. LTA said then that it will also be consulting device-sharing and rental companies on additional regulations to improve public safety.
Bike-sharing firms have had a troubled history in Singapore. Chinese firm ofo had its license suspended by LTA in February after it failed to comply with regulatory requirements.
ofo was also facing “immense” cash flow problems and shutting the firm had been considered as an option, its chief executive Dai Wei said in a letter to employees in December last year, according to Reuters. Today later reported that ofo laid off its entire operations team in Singapore without compensation in January, and also owed vendors here more than $700,000.
Many of ofo’s bicycles have since been refurbished by Moov for its own fleet.
Obike pulled out of the Singapore market last year, while Mobike followed suit in March. Local operator SG Bike obtained approval to take over Mobike’s license in September.
Indiscriminate parking and dumping of bicycles have been a problem for some time. But according to LTA, since the introduction of the QR code parking system and user ban, the number of trips ending in indiscriminate bicycle parking has fallen significantly from 44 per cent to 13 per cent.
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