Yellow oBikes leaving Melbourne in wake of crackdown
Notorious yellow oBikes will soon be swept off Melbourne's city's streets in the wake of a crackdown.
Port Phillip Mayor Bernadene Voss confirmed that the company was departing Melbourne rather than meet strict new rules imposed by the Environment Protection Agency.
Under the new rules, the Singaporean company would have been required to pay $3000 in fines if an abandoned bike blocked a street for two hours.
The company was due to provide a plan for managing abandoned and damaged bikes by mid-last week, and the plan was supposed to be implemented by Wednesday.
Councillor Voss said trucks were collecting abandoned bikes in St Kilda over the weekend.
"They can't cope with the new regulations that's been imposed on them," she said.
A new bike share company called Mobike is set to launch in July, she said.
The Age has approached oBike for comment.
The yellow rental bikes have been controversial in Melbourne, with hundreds left strewn on footpaths and roads and more than 100 fished out of the Yarra River since the company started operating in the city less than a year ago.
In addition to being dumped in the Yarra, oBikes were left in trees, on street signs, and, in one instance, stacked on top of a portaloo.
More to come.