ofo & mobike Research Case Study

Key Findings from 2nd Field Study (Full Report)

Location: Wu Yang Metro Exit
Time: 6:32 AM to 10:30 AM

ofo Numbers

• began with 45 bikes and ended up with 122 bikes
• had a total of 70 bikes riding in & 144 bikes riding out, and an additional +120 bikes from ofo vans
• never got lower than 44 bikes in supply
• highest supply at 126
• largest number of riders leaving was 17 at 8:14 AM
• largest number of riders coming in was 9 at 7:51 AM
• biggest exchange at +6/-17 at 8:14 and +9/-14 at 8:41

mobike numbers

• began with 3 bikes and ended up with 2 bikes
• had a total of 86 bikes riding in & 87 bikes riding out with no interference from vans
• got to 0 in supply 8 times
• highest supply at 21
• largest number of riders leaving was 15 at 7:51 AM
• largest number of riders coming in was 15 at 7:00 AM
• biggest exchange at +11/-14 at 8:14

key observations

• While ofos had a lot of bikes left unused, it is not guaranteed that the same wouldn’t happen to mobikes if they had more reinforcement from mobike vans
• Out of the three locations, the metro exit had the most traffic of bikes coming in & out for both ofo and mobike.
• Due to the lack of bike lanes & regulation, riders & drivers are forced to awkwardly adjust to each other, often resulting in dangerous scenarios. As more bikes come in, riders start to park on the driving lanes, also interfering with incoming cars.
• The busier an area gets with bikes & people, the harder it is to park bikes resulting in bikes being less organized & space becoming more hectic. During high traffic, there were several instances of bikes getting run over and no one picking them up.
• mobike, despite not relying on any resupply of bikes from vans, managed to get a great surge of supply from riders naturally coming into the station. ofos, however, had an incredible amount of stagnant supply all throughout the day.
• One area, a space right outside of the metro exit, was the most popular for riders to ride away (both mobike & ofo).
• ofo had several successful supply drops, where a van would come to unload bikes and riders immediately came up to take them, despite there already being many available ones a few meters away.
• Despite being constantly low numbers compared to ofos, mobikes were utilized at a greater rate.
• During early morning, many riders, especially students, would get off and go into the metro.
• The metro exit appeared to have a consistent flow of riders coming in & riding out.

Location: Siyounan 2nd Street Residential Area
Time: 6:20 AM to 9:30 AM & 4:55 PM to 6:55 PM

ofo Numbers

• began with 14 bikes and ended up with 11 bikes
• had a total of 4 bikes riding in & 7 bikes riding out
• never got lower than 9 bikes in supply
• highest supply at 14
• largest number of riders leaving was 2 at 6:20 AM & 7:10 AM
• largest number of riders coming in was 1 at 8:23 AM & 9:20 AM
• biggest exchange at +1/-1 at 8:23 and 9:20

mobike numbers

• began with 7 bikes and ended up with 5 bikes
• had a total of 3 bikes riding in & 5 bikes riding out
• never got lower than 3 bikes in supply
• highest supply at 7
• largest number of riders leaving was 1 at 6:45 AM, 7:10 AM, 7:29 AM, 7:50 AM, 6:35 PM.
• largest number of riders coming in was 1 at 5:15 PM, 6:25 PM, 6:45 PM.

key observations

• Many people who left the residential building did not take the bike, but chose the metro 50 meters away, bus stop 5 meters away, didi (Chinese Uber), their own bike, or walk.
• Only 1 person, a father who took his daughter to school by putting her in the front basket of a mobike and carrying her pink backpack on his back, road a bike out and back in. There were 3 more who rode away as well.
• 10 meters away on the public sidewalks, there are bunches of mobikes & ofos that were also untouched for most of the day.
• There were several surges of mobikes & ofos, cars, taxis, and people passing by this location, but very few mobikes or ofos that stopped at or began from this residential area.
• mobikes also appeared to have idle supply, but less compared to ofos.

Location: GT Mall, Winter Plaza Entrance
Time: 2:05 AM to 4:05 PM

ofo Numbers

• began with 29 bikes and ended up with 30 bikes
• had a total of 4 bikes riding in & 2 bikes riding out
• never got lower than 27 bikes in supply
• highest supply at 30
• largest number of riders leaving was 1
• largest number of riders coming in was 1

mobike numbers

• began with 15 bikes and ended up with 19 bikes
• had a total of 8 bikes riding in & 2 bikes riding out
• never got lower than 13 bikes in supply
• highest supply at 19
• largest number of riders leaving was 2 at 2:05 PM
• largest number of riders coming in was 2 at 3:34 PM & 3:55 PM

key observations

• Despite there being a roped off, designated area for parking & riding bikes away in front of the mall entrance, it was on being overwhelmed by the traffic of cars, taxis, busses, civic vehicles, and didis. There also wasn’t any bike lanes or regulations to provide safe riding.
• For a rider to ride in and park or ride out, they would have to ride onto the road and be in the same driving lanes as cars.
• Most people leaving the mall either walked across the street or took taxis, didis, and cars over biking. This was the case for people who had a lot of stuff to carry & didn’t.
• Many ofos & mobikes that were passing by the entrance but few that parked or rode away.
• Instances where a rider had trouble finding space to park their bike because the station already had so many bikes.

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