The maligned Melbourne Bike Share scheme will limp on unchanged for another year after the Napthine government quietly dropped plans to sell it to a private operator who could invigorate and expand the system.

The distinctive blue bikes would have sprouted beyond the CBD and inner city beaches into Melbourne's inner suburbs under one proposal the government was touting when it called for expressions of interest to run the scheme in December.

Melbourne Bike Share bikes sitting outside Southern Cross station. Credit:Mal Fairclough

Naming and branding rights were also up for grabs, in line with more successful bike share schemes such as those in London and New York.

But the three shortlisted bidders — the RACV, advertising company JCDecaux and US-based Social Bicycles — all failed to put forward a proposal the government could accept.