Ofo, a Chinese bike sharing company, has launched a trial run of its service in Cambridge, amid concerns regarding the scheme. The trial, launched last Thursday and running for three weeks, will see twenty bikes made available for those with the app.

The scheme allows users to unlock the bicycles using the app, and use them for a small fee. This mirrors the Santander bikes in London, a scheme which has proved to be popular. However, the Ofo scheme will be dockless, meaning that users can leave the bikes anywhere the city after they have finished their journey.

The bikes were meant to arrive in Cambridge in March but the start was delayed amid concerns about the logistics of the scheme and the lack of docking system.

Councillor Lewis Herbert from the Cambridge City Council has expressed concerns about the scheme. In a statement to Cambridge News, Herbert said that Ofo “have not yet made clear what staff and resources they will have in place to ensure a well managed scheme, how they will deal with anyone who hires one but abandons it thoughtlessly, or even if the bikes will be well serviced and have lights.” However, the Cambridge Independent reported last week that the bikes had been fitted with lights.

Herbert emphasised that the scheme is still very much in a test phase: “If they bring their bikes into Cambridge this week as expected, even in a small number, it must be seen only as a test with an opportunity for a detailed review after with council officers and all unanswered concerns fully addressed.”

‘Uber for bikes’ to come to Cambridge

Alongside local MP Daniel Zeichner, Herbert previously met with the company on two occasions to discuss the scheme. This followed concerns expressed by local charity Camcycle, who aims for increased, safer cycling in the Cambridge area.

Camcycle had previously expressed fear that vandals could move the bikes and dump them in the river. The group also worried about the scheme potentially adding to the issue of overcrowding in the city centre, with poorly parked bikes causing problems for the public and worsening parking difficulties