London, UK – Chinese bike-sharing giant, Mobike, has announced the launch of its service in London, starting with the West London borough of Ealing. The launch comes hot on the heels of Mobike’s initial UK bike-share scheme in Manchester just a few weeks ago.

According to a press release, the launch is the result of a sustained collaboration between Mobike, Ealing council and other local stakeholders. Ealing will see Mobike launching with an initial 750 bikes in September, with that number expected to increase to meet growing demand for the service. Steve Pyer, 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 help 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.
Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, cabinet member for transport, environment and leisure at Ealing Council, said: “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 lack of storage. 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.”

Mobike also launched in Italy last week, with the support of the mayors of both Florence and Milan, who joined Mobike founder and president Hu Weiwei to cycle around the city following a launch event in Florence on Monday. Mobike aims to work closely with city governments to define a tailored model for each city, providing an outstanding experience to users and the municipality itself. Mobike will aim to provide its service to a series of London boroughs over the next few months.