The District can expect to see one less dockless travel option around town starting this week.
After launching here last fall for a city-led pilot program, Ofo, a dockless bike company based in China, has announced it is exiting multiple U.S. and international markets – including D.C. – as part of a corporate-wide financial restructuring.
The company, with $2.2 billion in investor funding, is laying off about 70 percent of its U.S. staff as well. The Washington Post first reported the announcement.
“As we continue to bring bikeshare to communities across the globe, Ofo has begun to reevaluate markets that present obstacles to new, green transit solutions, and prioritize growth in viable markets that support alternative transportation and allow us to continue to serve our customers,” Andrew Daley, Ofo’s North American head, said in a prepared statement.
The firm previously aspired to reach 300,000 bikes on U.S. streets by year-end 2018. It will also exit international markets including Germany, Australia, India and Israel. Quartz reported that Ofo will maintain operations in Seattle, San Diego and New York.
Ofo's website for D.C. urges riders to send messages to the mayor and City Council sharing positive experiences with the service, with an event calendar last updated in March.
It was one of several dockless bike and scooter companies to launch in D.C. last fall, in a pilot program that included seven companies that each are allowed up to 400 vehicles. The program was slated to end in April, but extended through August.
At least five other firms are still running in the area: Jump and Spin operate bicycles, Skip and Bird brought electric scooters here last spring, and Limebike has both. Mobike, another bike-sharing firm that arrived last fall, has no bikes currently available in the area and told The Post it would make an announcement this week.
