Residents in Ealing are to benefit from 750 communal bikes in September after a leading bike-share scheme announced its London launch on Monday (July 31).

Mobike, the world’s first and largest smart and sustainable bike-share, is to bring hundreds of bikes to Ealing borough after the scheme's second UK launch.

In collaboration with Ealing Council and other local stakeholders, Mobike will provide the borough with its very first smart and dockless bike share scheme in September.

The “sustainable and affordable solution” means locals will be able to pick up and ride the bikes around the city any time by downloading an app, finding one nearby and scanning a QR code.

To complete their ride, users need only park their bike at any authorised bike parking area near their destination and manually close the lock on the bike.

Hundreds of the communal bikes are coming to Ealing

Steve Pyer, the UK general manager for Mobike, said: “We’re excited to be the first council and community-backed dockless bike-sharing scheme coming to London.

“Mobike is committed to helping develop the bike sharing culture across the globe through its discussions and collaboration with cities - and London is key in achieving this.

“We’re committed to working closely with Ealing and other boroughs to make Mobike, and bike-sharing as a whole, a successful experience for Londoners.”

Ealing will see the scheme launching with an initial 750 bikes in September, with that number expected to increase to meet growing demand for the service.

Each bike is designed with a series of high-tech features, such as unique smart-lock technology and built-in GPS connected via the Mobike IoT network, which helps locate and monitor each bike.

Each bike comes with high-tech equipment, such as built-in GPS

Councillor Julian Bell, the leader of Ealing Council, said: “We want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to try cycling so I’m excited by the arrival of Mobike.

“We have a wide range of cycling support already in place, including free cycle training, free maintenance checks and free guided bike tours, and this affordable, dockless bike scheme will complement all these.

“I look forward to seeing more residents leave their cars at home and switch to a Mobike instead.”

The global company is experiencing increased demand for their bike-share services and launched in Manchester this month and in Florence on Monday July 24.

A spokesman for Mobike suggested they aim to provide its affordable and environmentally-friendly service to a series of London boroughs over the next few months.

The bike-share scheme has proved successful in countries such as Singapore and Italy

Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, cabinet member for transport, environment and leisure at Ealing Council, said he hoped locals will get involved in the scheme.

“We want more people to cycle in Ealing and the launch of Mobike in the borough is another way of helping people who want to give it a go, but are put off by the upfront expense of buying a bike or by the lack of storage," he said.

"We are working with Mobike to initially launch in Acton and together, will closely watch how the bikes are used with the aim of extending them further across the borough.”

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