The New Taipei City Government on Monday announced that it would auction off more than 4,000 oBikes it has confiscated since June 20.
The operators of oBike lack the ability to self-manage, and its damaged, defective, illegally parked or abandoned bicycles have affected the city’s appearance, Department of Transportation Director Chung Ming-shih (鍾鳴時) said.
The city has received multiple complaints, but the company has failed to improve the situation, despite the department’s repeated notices, he said.
As a result, the city last month banned oBike from placing bicycles on the city’s streets and asked a private towing company to remove more than 1,000 abandoned oBikes, he said.
The city’s transportation, environmental protection and police departments, as well as the High Riverbank Construction Management Office, on June 20 also started removing the bicycles by mobilizing sanitation teams in the city’s 29 districts, officials said.
As of Monday, the city had cleared more than 4,000 bicycles and moved them to an impound lot in Bali District (八里), they said.
Jhonghe (中和) and Yonghe (永和) districts had the most confiscated oBikes, about 400 each, followed by Sanchong District (三重) with about 300, said Hsu Yuan-chi (許芫綺), head of the transportation department’s parking operations section.
More than 260 oBikes were impounded in Sijhih (汐止) and Wugu (五股) districts, and about 20 were removed from Jinshan (金山), Wanli (萬里), Pingsi (平溪) and Pinglin (坪林) districts, she said.
The transportation department sent the operators of oBike multiple registered letters asking it to inspect and retrieve its bicycles, but they were all returned, as they were not signed for, she said.
The firm owes the city about NT$9.95 million (US$320,028) in towing and storage fees, she said.
Residents can report illegally parked or abandoned oBikes to the 1999 hotline, the department said.
The agency has also drafted a self-governance ordinance to more effectively regulate bike-sharing services, it said, adding that the ordinance is to be reviewed by the city’s Department of Legal Affairs and would take effect once passed by the city council.
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