Is this the future for Sydney and Melbourne? Shocking photos show bike share 'graveyards' in China
With the fourth bike sharing company entering the Australian market this month, residents of Melbourne and Sydney are starting to lose their patience with the rental bikes cluttering busy streets.
Mobike has become the latest company to unload the controversial new scheme across the country, following in the footsteps of oBike, Ofo and Reddygo.
But spare a thought for those living in some of China's largest cities with the booming bike-sharing industry reaching breaking point as leading companies line the streets with hundreds of thousands of bikes.
Remarkable images from Beijing and Shanghai reveal the escalating problem with a number of 'bike graveyards' popping up across the cities as the government cracks down on the escalating problem.
Thousands of unsupervised bikes found in inappropriate locations are taken off the streets and dumped in huge piles.
The cycle-for-hire start-ups allow users to unlock GPS-enabled bikes via a smartphone app, eliminating the need for a docking station and allows users to leave them wherever they wish.
The scheme has faced a strong backlash in Australia after bikes were left scattered across city streets in dangerous places, including up trees and flung onto roadways.
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In September, around 40 oBikes were pulled out of the Yarra River but Chethan Rangaswamy, the marketing head of the company, is confident the scheme will not take the same route as China once Australians begin using the bikes in the correct manner.
“We are trying to raise awareness and we do believe we can change the mindset but it’s a slow process,’’ Mr Rangaswamy said in September.