Los Angeles Next Stop in ofo’s North American Expansion
China’s shared bike startup ofo has entered Los Angeles and is offering bicycles for rent in Griffith Park. In celebration of the annual autumn festival, ofo arranged booths throughout the park where residents and visitors can test drive ofo bikes and experience bike-sharing culture.
Los Angeles is the second largest metropolis in the US and the ninth US city that ofo entered. On August 17, ofo entered Seattle and received a business license for shared cycling from the local administrative department. Its move into Seattle made it the first Chinese bike sharing company to operate in the US. It then entered Worcester, Revere, Chelsea and Malden in the greater Boston area of Massachusetts, Washington D.C, Denver, Aurora and Dallas. At present, the company has operations in Britain, Russia, the Netherlands, Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and other 17 countries and regions.
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“Entering Los Angeles will be an important step for us in California. We will further speed up our exploration of the North American market,” said Dai Wei, founder and CEO of ofo. “We have been actively exploring the synergy between green transportation, parks and other public places. We want to bind different cycling scenes together. Also, we hope ofo can offer an entirely new way to travel in Griffith Park.”
California, as the world’s sixth largest economy, is America’s strongest economic power, accounting for 13 percent of its GDP. California is the innovation center of the country and has a highly developed economy and culture. Its Silicon Valley is the home of the world’s top high-tech and information companies. Griffith Park is North America’s largest city park and where people in Los Angeles tend to spend their weekends and holidays. There are many landmarks, such as the Griffith observatory, the Hollywood sign and Greek theatre. Shared cycling is a new way to explore the connectivity within urban spaces. Connected by bicycles, people can interact with urban civilization construction. Shared cycling may become a new way to guide the benign development of urban construction. “ofo brings Griffith Park, residents living nearby and visitors from all over the world a free travel way, enabling them to have close contact with nature and to have more fun. We are looking forward launching our service in more cities in the greater Los Angeles area,” Lin Wenxin, vice president of ofo in the US.
ofo has more than 10 million vehicles worldwide. Its daily orders exceed 32 million, offering more than 4 billion rides of travel service to 200 million users in more than 180 cities. ofo said it will be available in 200 cities in 20 countries and regions by the end of this year. The goal is in its final countdown, and ofo may complete its 2017 international strategic objective earlier than scheduled.
