ofo & mobike Research Case Study

Key Findings from “commuting habits” interviews (Full Report)

Interviewee 1

Frequent Commutes:

• (from home to work) Walks a couple of minutes to take the bus, gets off 2 stops later to get on the metro which goes all the way to the place he works at in the city center. The most efficient way possible at 1 and a half hour.
• (from work to home) Walks outside of work building to take the metro all the way to the bus stop he got off in the morning. Usually, by that time at night busses are much less frequent so he tends to ride a mobike home (5–10 minutes) as opposed to walking (20 minutes).
• (from home to mall) On weekends, takes bus to nearby metro to go directly to malls.
• (from work to badminton center) Usually rides mobike to go play badminton with friends after work. Takes 20 minutes walking but less than half when biking.

Additional Insights:

• Metro to him is the most efficient & reliable way of transportation because it can get him where he wants to go & not be affected by traffic.
• Within 1km, he likes to bike when he is in a rush or wants to save time.
• Won’t go out of his way to download the mobike or ofo app because he finds it more convenient to pay through the WeChat wallet. Because mobike is the only bikesharing on WeChat, he only rides mobike. Has downloaded ofo in the past but mobike tends to have more promotions than ofo so he stuck with mobike.
• Times when he wants to go to ride a bike to run a nearby errand but can’t find any mobikes downstairs in-front of the company building, where tends to be an abundance of ofos but not that many mobikes.

Interviewee 2

Frequent Commutes:

• (from home to work & work to home) Walk 5–6 minutes to get on metro for 17 minutes that stops by near work building (around 30 minutes total). Same going back home.
• (from work to see client) Method of transportation depends on how sensitive time is. If the traffic isn’t so bad, he’d take a taxi. If the traffic is slow & there’s not enough time, then he’d consider if the metro exit near his destination is walkable. If it isn’t and the destination can be reached under 15 minutes walking, then he’ll ride a bike.
• (from home to mall & mall to home) Take metro, bus, taxis, walk or drive all over biking because time is no sensitive.

Additional Insights:

• Only drives once in every 1 or 2 weeks either during the weekend for leisure or when time is not a factor due to congested traffic.
• Would not ride a bike outside of time sensitive, work related purposes. “There were times when I’d walk over 20 minutes from one mall to another over the weekend and I enjoyed it.”
• Never experienced wanting to ride bikes but there being a shortage.
• Lives on the edge of city central area.

Interviewee 3

Frequent Commutes:

• (from home to work & work to home) Walks for 10 minutes through small streets & malls straight to work. The fastests way over all other methods because the area (near a train station) is heavily congested in the morning & night. Has tried biking before but has been a poor experience because there’s so many people walking that she ends up walking the bike. Also, when crossing the street, because people from both sides are rushing into each other, she has been forced to ride on the edge which puts her very close to passing cars.
• (from home to mall & mall to home) During the weekend, she mostly stays at home. But if she goes out, she’d take the metro to go to malls because that’s the most efficient & safe way. She doesn’t feel confident riding bikes out in heavy traffic.

Additional Insights:

• If the destination is close, riding a bike is less convenient than walking for her because she feels the process of paying, scanning, and getting on the bike is so time consuming. She also feels she’s more effective speed walking & navigating around pedestrians.
• Only use case for biking is leisure with friends or when she’s not in a hurry to go somewhere. She also highly prefers to bike in open spaces, proper bike lanes, and areas with less people.

Interviewee 4

Frequent Commutes:

• (from home to work & work to home) Walks for 10–13 minutes (would like to bike even though riding conditions are dangerous but there’s a shortage where he lives) to get on a 45 minute metro ride to a station near work.
• (from home to locations during leisure) Prefers to drive but would ride if there’s a bike nearby.

Additional Insights:

• Often not enough bikes where where he lives (Near Bai Yun, Wan Da, an hour commute from city center). Sometimes sees places in the city center with too many bikes not moved for long periods.
• Wouldn’t ride bike when it’s raining because the water would make skid marks on his back.
• Wouldn’t ride when there’s a lack of bike lanes for long distances. Experienced riding 10 kms in the past and was overwhelmed by riding on the road with cars and their pollution.

Interviewee 5

Frequent Commutes:

• (from home to work & work to home) Lives 20 minutes walking from work but prefers to take a quick bus under 10 minutes. Would like to ride bike to work but would have to pass through a long underground tunnel along the way that prohibits biking and also navigate through cars & pedestrians.
• (from home to nearby parks & zoos) Usually takes 3 year old son to zoos and parks on the weekends by taxi rides (no more than 30 minutes) because he feels it’s the most reliable, safe, and convenient way.

Additional Insights:

• Bike sharing has been unreliable for him. While there’s many bikes in some places, it severely lacks in other places. Experienced trying to find an adequate bike late one night after not being able to find a taxi or didi and was unable to for 1 hour (near the heart of the city center). Eventually found one with no breaks in a pile of broken bikes.
• Doesn’t have a car because he lives so close to work and parking in the city center is very expensive & hard to find.
• Bought a personal bike and would take his son riding in parks during weekends.
• Only ride bikes when metros (most prefered when he’s by himself), didis, and taxis are not accessible or if he’s out by himself, and the weather is manageable, and he’s not in a rush.

Interviewee 6

Frequent Commutes:

• (from home to work & work to home) 15 minute drive under good traffic, tends to be 30 minutes in the morning. Driving home from work at night can take as long as 1 hour.
• (from work to client) Due to the nature of his work, he needs to leave the office a lot so for him, it’s more convenient to drive everywhere.
• (from home to leisure) Mostly stays home outside of work.

Additional Insights:

• Outside of driving, would take didi because it’s hard to find parking around the city center.
• Doesn’t think biking will ever be necessary because his destinations are either too close (under 10 minutes he would walk) or too far (drive or didi).
• Doesn’t want to waste time finding an adequate bike, scanning it and then parking it in a fitting spot.
• Not a bike rider and does not think he ever will be.
• would take didi often because it’s hard to find parking

Interviewee 7

Frequent Commutes:

• (from home to work & work to home) Before going to work, her husband would drive her to drop her kid off at his school and then he would drive to his workplace while she walks to take a 12 minute metro. Coming home from work, she’d take a 30 minute bus ride because the metro tends to be very crowded and she’s also not in a rush.

Additional Insights:

• Never wanted or needed bike sharing before because she’s not comfortable with riding conditions on the road or sidewalk.
• Has her own bike and use it sparsely with family on the weekend in enclosed and safe environments.
• Does not know or need to drive because her husband does. If he’s not here, she prefers to use didi or xingxing (similar to didi bu with native drivers who know roads better).
• Biggest problem is when it rains, it’s hard to get a ride from taxis, didi, xingxing. If even her husband is away for a business trip, then she’d take her son on bus or metro but it takes a much longer time because the station is far from their home, making the trip inconvenient.

Interviewee 8

Frequent Commutes:

• (from home to work & work to home) Walks 10 minutes to & from work. Wouldn’t ride bike because there’s several stop lights, roads to cross & traffic.
• (from work to client) Takes metro because it can reach the farthest & it’s cheap.
• (from home to leisure) Doesn’t really go anywhere outside of work.

Additional Insights:

• Transportation method depends on time. If there’s a lot of time, I likes to walk. If there’s less time, he will ride a bike, followed by didi, taxi, nad metro.
• Really likes that riders now have much more freedom in choosing where we can park our bikes.
• Recently moved to Guangzhou for 3 months, so in the weekends, he likes to ride mobike around to explore.
• Doesn’t like that he has to ride on the sidewalk where there’s a lot of people and uneven with the bricks, but still likes to ride when there’s less people in the weekend (comes from Fuzhou where there’s more bike lanes & regulations).
• Would like the government to set more regulation and rules so people care more about condition of bikes. Doesn’t like seeing bikes trashed and not usable.

Interviewee 9

Frequent Commutes:

• (from home to work & work to home) Walks for 10 minute or bikes for 5 minutes (depends on her mood day to day) to metro station and then take a 25 minute metro ride to work.
• (from home to malls or restaurants) Tends to take the metro the most. SInce parking is hard to find & expensive, she doesn’t have a car.

Additional Insights:

• Feels she can get anywhere with metro & it’s cheap with discounts. Also didis often with friends.
• Haven’t seen any fenced off bike lanes, but only the ones with a line diving car lanes. Often feels threatened by busses that drive too close to the bike lane.

Interviewee 10

Frequent Commutes:

• (from home to work & work to home) Takes 50 minute bus ride to work and metros & busses for 50 minutes home.
• (from home to restaurants) Goes out to Zheng Jia mall in the city center to eat a lot by bus & metro. If she’s running late (to meet up with friends) she’d take the metro. If not, she likes to ride the bus comfortably.
• (from home to parks) Sometimes rides bike to areas with low traffic with friends during leisure.

Additional Insights:

• Wouldn’t ride in the city center because she don’t think her riding skills are good enough to handle the overwhelming traffic.
• Sometimes she wants to ride to the metro station but there’s not enough bikes because many people are also going to the station. There’s also a lot of old and broken bikes (lives in Cheng Zhong Cun, Xing Jiu Cun, areas that used to be old villages that have been turned into mass rental apartments).
• Usually wouldn’t take taxi especially during high traffic because it’s expensive & slow.

For more information, please contact: DL548@cornell.edu