Wheels come off
Mexico City – Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike entered the Latin American market in Mexico City this year, drawn by its millions of potential clients. Now it has run into a problem increasingly plaguing the country – street crime.
Theft has been so widespread that in the past few days, dozens of customers have complained on social media about the lack of available bicycles. Mobike, the largest bike-sharing company in the world, said shortages were due to theft, as well as growing demand for the 500 bicycles available while it awaits clearance from authorities to expand further.
It has been working with law enforcement agencies to recover the stolen bicycles, said Rene Ojeda, director of the Mexican arm of the Beijing-based company.
Since it entered the Mexican market in mid-February, Mobike subscriptions have risen by 70% a week, he said.
But the company faces competition. Mexican VBike has 2 000 bicycles and EcoBici, launched by Mexico City’s government, has 6 500 units and 260 000 users.
“Mobike was a good option for me since I work in the area,” said Fernando Galicia, a disgruntled user. “But I’ve gone to EcoBici, not because it’s cheaper but because they always have bikes.”
Reuters found almost 60 bicycles – using the app, which equips them with GPS trackers – in Tepito, a tough neighborhood, best known for its black markets.
Ojeda said some Mobike users commute to work on the bicycles and leave them in Tepito, which is outside its operating area. But after reviewing the app at various points this week, Reuters found none of the Mobikes there ever left Tepito.
Thieves are “using the bikes to move drugs”, said a Tepito resident, who asked to remain anonymous due to security fears. The Chinese firm did not respond to these allegations.
Mobike equips its bicycles with an electronic alarm that alerts the company when one of them leaves its operating zone. Each bike also carries more than 60 patented parts so they cannot be sold for use on other bicycles.
Theft is not a problem unique to Mobike in Mexico. This week, business leaders called out the government over a recent crime wave that has forced several firms to shut down operations or spend millions of dollars on security in Latin America’s second-largest economy.