Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has granted in-principle approval for bike-sharing firm Moov Technology to operate a fleet of up to 10,000 bikes.
The smart mobility company applied for the full license earlier this year. At the time, it was operating about 1,000 bikes in the western part of the city-state, in places such as Boon Lay and Pioneer, under a sandbox license.
With a full license, Moov will now be able to operate in public areas for two years.
Bike-sharing companies must meet certain requirements, such as implementing a QR code parking system to ensure bike safety, in order to secure full licenses.
According to the LTA, the number of trips that ended in indiscriminate bicycle parking fell to 13% from 44% since the introduction of a QR code parking system and user bans. The agency also said that it regularly reviews the fleet sizes of shared bicycles to ensure that their numbers are able to meet user demand without causing public disamenities.
Just last month, the LTA authorized SG Bike to acquire Mobike’s license, allowing the former to take control of the latter’s fleet of 25,000 bicycles. SG Bike users will be able to access SG Bike- and Mobike-branded bicycles from the SG Bike app once the transfer is complete.
In June, local bike-sharing firm Anywheel said it’s looking to expand its fleet to 10x its current size of roughly 1,000 bikes. It’s also planning to extend its services to international markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.
This article first appeared in Tech in Asia.