Member Article

Smart bike sharing platform Mobike pulls into Newcastle

Newcastle has been announced as the third UK city to host smart and sustainable bike-share scheme Mobike.

Following launches in Manchester in July and London in early September, the initiative will bring 1,000 of Mobike’s orange and silver bikes to the city at the beginning of next month.

The Newcastle announcement follows today’s announcement of Mobike’s partnership with British Cycling. The nationwide collaboration aims to get two million more people on bikes by 2020, with major cities like Newcastle a key part of their ambition.

The business has worked in close collaboration with local councils to to conduct the launch while Northumbria University has already voiced its support for the scheme.

Steve Pyer, UK General Manager for Mobike, said: “We are once again launching in a city where there is a real commitment to get people on bikes. Newcastle’s commitment to creating a safe and inclusive cycling culture made the city a natural place for the next step of Mobike’s UK expansion.

“We look forward to welcoming the Newcastle people to our growing Mobiker base, and to working with them and the city to take advantage of all of the scheme’s benefits. As Mobike continues to become available across the UK, our commitment to increase the amount of people making a healthier, eco-friendly transport choice has never been stronger.”

Julie Harrington, British Cycling chief executive, added: “We are absolutely delighted to have introduced Mobike to Newcastle and it is wonderful to see a city sharing the excitement and embracing the potential Mobike has to transform the way people make their journeys around the city.

“Newcastle is a really important partner for British Cycling and the city has a great sporting and cycling heritage with thousands turning up to ride the traffic – free roads when HSBC UK City Ride visited the city in July, giving people a real flavour of what our cities could be like if we fully embraced cycling as a means of transport.

“With the support of our lead partner HSBC UK we will work closely with the city leaders to encourage thousands of people to get back on their bike.”