Obike helps bikers locate bike parking spots in Taipei

An oBike parked at OUE Downtown, Singapore.

OBike, Singapore’s first homegrown station-less smart bike-sharing company, has successfully harnessed big data to help the Taipei city government identify intelligent bike parking spots in the city. The company also offers intelligent bike parking services in Singapore.

Locating racks for bike parking had previously been a challenge as positioning in Taiwan makes use of the TWD97 coordinate system, which does not reference latitude and longitude. OBike made location-based searches possible by proactively investing in converting the data into the universal WGS84 format instead. The company then collaborated with the Taipei City government to construct intelligent bike parking spots in the city, identifying their locations by inputting latitude and longitude details into its geographic coordinate system.

Users are now able to park the bikes at the right place, to enhance the efficiency of traffic management. Commuters can locate more than 33,000 public bike parking spots via the oBike mobile app. OBike also analyses related data such as origin of journey, destination and route of bike usage and presented commuters’ usage patterns in detailed heat map in order to determine riding patterns and evaluate the efficiency of the city’s transport system.

“Traffic congestion wastes time, increases pollution, and is costly to society. However, with the availability of data and its analytics, governments can make more informed planning and negate urban transport issues. This provides citizens with a more reliable and seamless commute,” said Edward Chen, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of oBike.

This follows the successful usage of heat maps in Singapore since oBike's inception. By consolidating commuter data, oBike has been able to project an accurate picture of commuters who are using the bike-sharing platform.

“Historical data can help us predict traffic and commuter flows at specific periods and such granular and real-time data will give us a complete view of current usage and demand. With these information, we can work together with the Singapore government to identify gaps in the bicycle network and propose solutions to improve the infrastructure,” he added.

The Taipei City government has recognised oBike for its efforts in taking actions to support the citywide intelligent traffic management policy, by enhancing the efficacies of the 33,000 public bike parking spots. oBike is now looking at sharing the technique and the converted information with any other cities and governments.

Apart from improving the bicycle infrastructure in Taiwan, oBike is the first bike-sharing company to outline a contingency plan, with tried-and-tested response measures, to natural hazards such as typhoons.

In the event of an emergency, oBike is equipped with the resources to safekeep bicycles in warehouses which are located in the urban districts. A response team will also be activated to provide support to those in need.

Chen added, “OBike understands the Taiwanese market and has considered the natural conditions we operate in. Regardless of the situation, the safety of commuters will remain our utmost priority. Having such a contingency plan in place strengthens our ability to respond swiftly and effectively, and lessens the impact of a natural disaster.”

OBike is now in over 30 cities in 10 countries worldwide, serving more than 2 million users across Southeast Asia alone.

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The oBike App is currently available on the App Store and Google Play.