Bike-share issues on a familiar path

ABANDONED ride-share bicycles have crept into suburban Gold Coast reminiscent of the experiences in Melbourne and Sydney, residents say.

Despite promises of a hassle-free scheme from Gold Coast City Council and bike share service Mobike, residents say bikes are staying in the same spot they were left for days on end.

Ride-share services were criticised in southern cities where bikes were found in rivers, trees and on roofs.

Southport resident Wayne Richardson is picking up the cycles and taking them home to be collected, only to be threatened with a fee.

“I had seen the bikes along Cotlew St and in the canal for days in a row,” he said.

Mr Richardson said he had contacted Mobike on the mat- ter and after the bikes were still not collected he took them home for safe keeping.

He said he was told by Mobike that the bikes were not to be parked on private property “to avoid being penalised”.

“I still can’t get the company to pick them up. Residents are now the appointed caretakers of these abandoned bikes. We are relied on to stop children from tossing them in the canal and trees.

“The bikes work incredibly well in some places, but unfortunately the inevitable problem with the Gold Coast is the distances people need to travel.

“Many tourists abandon the bike once they realise its an awful long way back.”

Southport Chamber of Commerce president Laird Marshall said the scheme was mirroring experiences in other cities.

“Residents talk about it the most, bikes just dumped and staying there for days,” Mr Marshall said.

“I think it is something that is not well thought out. It is a visual issue.”

The said the operators needed to make a commitment for the bikes to be picked up.

“They know where they are stationary. They need to be moved back,” he said.

Mayor Tom Tate briefly addressed the matter of the rideshare scheme.

“These are operational matters for City officers and Mobike. I trust Mobike and (Mobike partner) TAG address these issues promptly,” he said.

Gold Coast City Council said they had received minimal complaints since the launch of the bike-share scheme.

Up to 450 additional bikes have been introduced to the Gold Coast during the Commonwealth Games.

Picture: MIKE BATTERHAM Wayne Richardson of Surfers Paradise Waters with one of the Mobikes he decided to take home for “safe keeping” after it spent days sittling idle in Cotlew St.