Mobike’s first American city was D.C., but now it’s leaving, citing the District’s tight regulation. (Photo courtesy of Mobike)

The dockless bikeshare market in D.C. is shrinking.

Mobike is the latest company to say it can’t survive in the District, citing a city-mandated cap on the number of bikes the company is allowed to pilot. The District Department of Transportation limited companies to only 400 bikes.

Chris Martin, Mobike’s vice president for North America operations, said the cap killed any chance of density and cost efficiency for the company.

“It’s made it very unsustainable for us to run operations in this city and very different to any other market that we’re operating in right now,” Martin said. “We probably should’ve [ended it] even sooner.”

Martin said the bikes have to be near ubiquitous for the model to work. Costs, like maintaining a warehouse hiring bike mechanics and an operations staff, were just too high to operate so few bikes, he said.

D.C. was Mobike’s first North American city, and the company offered rides for free during its first two months in the city.

Customers that have a balance on their account will be refunded in the coming days.

Martin said the District’s regulation is not the right way to attract business.

D.C.’s bikeshare pilot program began last September and was set to go through April before it was extended until the end of August.

Five of the seven dockless bike or scooter companies, Lime, Jump, Spin, Bird and Skip, remain with a month left in the pilot.

In a statement, DDOT said the pilot project was “designed to help DDOT determine the most effective approach for introducing this technology to the District while ensuring public safety”

DDOT said it looks forward to “using the information collected during the demonstration project to arrive at long-term options for the use of dockless vehicles in the District.”

Ofo, the bikeshare with the bright yellow bikes, ended operations in D.C. on Monday.

The Chinese company is restructuring across the globe and shutting down most of its operations to focus on select markets in the U.S. and China.

Residents have both hailed and hated the arrival of the dockless bikes. Some say it gives them another quick, cheap option for short trips. Others say the bikes’ arrival has created cluttered sidewalks and obstacles for pedestrians and those in wheelchairs who can’t move the bikes out of the way.

Mobike’s Martin said the market will likely continue to shrink as it has in China where many different services popped up only to disappear after they couldn’t gain market share.

Mobike said it continues to have success overseas and in other U.S. markets like San Diego and Charlotte, but none have had restrictions like D.C.

Martin didn’t rule out that it could come back to the District in the future when the rules are solidified.

“There are no hard feelings,” he said.

This story originally appeared on WAMU

Previously:
What’s The Difference Between D.C.’s Four New Dockless Bikeshares?