By Stephen Donahue

Locobike, Hong Kong’s largest bike-share company, has recently encountered criticism due to their rising number of broken, stolen, and abandoned bicycles. The once eco-friendly rental service has now become a disturbance to the urban environment, undermining efforts towards sustainability. Estimates from the South China Morning Post suggest that just over 50% of all Locobikes have either become irreparably damaged or have been stolen and repainted. Despite the company’s attempts to enhance security by adding alarms to their bikes, incidents continue to happen weekly.

In 2017, their first year in operation, the rate of theft was 0%. This further increased to 30% in 2021. In 2023, theft rose to 55% but was reduced by 5% after police initiatives and cash rewards from the public for recovering stolen bikes. Today, Locobike pays 2,000 HKD and provides one-year free subscription for the recovery of every bike. Nevertheless, too many Locobike customers have already created free biking services and have directed their efforts to moving around in an environment-friendly way. The estimation of how many bikes were stolen varies between 5,100 and 10,000.

Members of the community in Hong Kong have recently organised a scheme through Facebook to combat theft. The "lead members" discuss bike theft or vandalism incidents and coordinate the cleaning of those bikes via this platform. Options for recovery rewards range from a $109 gift card to unlimited ride access for one year. They report their stolen bike using the chat feature. Luis Lin, a member of the Facebook group, stated: "The quality of the people in Hong Kong is so bad. Although Gobee is very aggressive, they dismantle their electronic locks and use them as cars. They have already committed theft."

Hopefully, this will change in the next few years, and you may receive a reward when you finally see a stolen or vandalised bike.

"LocoBike indicates that its shared bicycles have been specifically targeted for destruction, such as having their brake cables cut and being wrapped in tape between two bikes. (Image from Facebook 'LocoBike樂區踩') Download the 'Hong Kong 01' app to see the latest discussions in the city.

On Thursday (the 7th), LocoBike uploaded a video and several photos on its Facebook page, stating that over the past six months, its shared bicycles placed in Tin Shui Wai have continuously faced targeted destruction. Initially, incidents included cutting brake cables and throwing bikes into rivers, and now involve smashing baskets, tying two bikes together with wire, and dragging multiple bikes to roundabouts, resembling a ‘punishment-like destruction of bicycles’.”