July 13 (NBD) -- Bike sharing companies met their Waterloo during expansion in Australia since last year. 

Chinese leading bike sharing brand Ofo announced on Tuesday that it will leave Australia based on its strategic decision to focus on priority markets internationally. It would wind down operations in Adelaide and Sydney in the next 60 days and would begin removing bikes from the streets.

Ofo now plans to concentrate more on Singapore, the U.S. and France, so it could give up expanding in Australia, India, Israel and the Middle East.

In October last year, Ofo made a foray into the Australian market after a trial run in Adelaide for about half a month. The company has launched 200 bikes in Sydney and 100 in Adelaide.

Ofo's decision comes only a month after Singapore-based startup oBike's announcement to pull out of Melbourne. 

OBikes said it would maintain operation in Sydney, but future of the company is in doubt. The company was reported unable to offer deposit refunds to users after it quitted the Singaporean market.

Besides, another Australian bike sharing brand Reddy Go, funded by University of Technology Sydney graduate Donald Tang, decided to wind down its operation in Australia.

The Australian company had about 160 bikes at its launch, and was expected to put another 6,000 in Sydney in 6 months, according to its plan.

In an effort to offload the bikes currently in the city, Reddy Go invited its users to pick up two bikes from the warehouse for free.

The failure bike sharing enterprises face in Australia is mainly caused by the small number of users as well as low frequency of use for sharing bikes.

According to a research conducted by Queensland University of Technology, share bikes in Sydney were being used for 0.3 trips per day on average, compared to two to six trips per day in other countries.

Citizens in Sydney are not used to travelling by bike and roads in city are not suitable for riding, Wang Jing explained to China Business News.

In addition, strict policies and high penalty made by local councils also placed great pressure on bike sharing companies.

Problems such as inappropriate parking, theft and urban pollution are headaches for local councils. Several months after the start-ups entered Australia, bike helmets were lost and bikes were even found on the roof, in the middle of the street or even tossed in the river.

To regulate the parking of dockless bikes, Melbourne and Sydney government issued a number of rules since 2017. 

Melbourne government even levy a fine of AU$3,000 (2,205 U.S. dollars) for every sharing bikes that was placed in the way.

Email: zhanglingxiao@nbd.com.cn