GoShare Taiwan Ltd (睿能數位服務) yesterday expanded its electric scooter sharing services to Kaohsiung in an effort to scale up its customer base, while joining three other peers to vie for a share of the growing sustainable mobility market.
GoShare, a subsidiary of electric scooter maker Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), plans to deploy 700 electric scooters in Kaohsiung in the initial stage, GoShare head Henry Chiang (姜家煒) told a media briefing yesterday.
The scooters would be available in parking areas adjacent to the city’s MRT stations, Chiang said.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
“The sharing service is not intended to replace the mass transportation system, but to play a supplementary role,” Chiang said. “Tapping into Kaohsiung, we hope to make a breakthrough in our user numbers this year.”
GoShare saw strong growth last year, with its number of users soaring 150 percent annually to more than 1 million since its launch in August 2019.
“The company is looking to deepen its partnership with the Kaohsiung City Government to provide sharing services at sightseeing sites,” Chiang said.
The company works with the New Taipei City Government in offering “GoShare Dots” along the 11km northeastern coast of Taiwan, a popular sightseeing route, allowing travelers to rent electric scooters and return them at 11 sites.
To celebrate the service launch in Kaohsiung, GoShare is offering a free ride for all users nationwide for a limited period, Chiang said.
GoShare has deployed 6,000 electric scooters across the nation, with more than 2,000 battery swap stations, he said.
The firm’s services are available in Taipei, New Taipei City, Yunlin County, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
Before GoShare entered the Kaohsiung market, other sharing service providers — Wemo Corp (威摩科技), Hotai Leasing Corp (和運租車) and Gokube Inc (夠酷比) — had deployed a combined 3,000 electric scooters in the city.
GoKube’s services are only available in Kaohsiung, while Wemo last week said that it was expanding its services to Kaohsiung’s Sanmin (三民), Cianjhen (前鎮) and Fengshan (鳳山) districts.
To promote its sharing services, Wemo is offering free rides to customers in Kaohsiung until the end of the Lunar New Year holiday next month.
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