Prensa. voanews.com
Thanks to
an explosion of bike share apps and providers, China is rediscovering its love
of bicycles. In cities across the country and in the capital of Beijing, a
colorful bike-share revolution is taking over on the streets, helping ease
traffic snarls and keeping the air cleaner. It is also creating some problems.
China
used to be called the “kingdom of bicycles,” and though cars have taken over in
a major way, the growing popularity of bike-share apps seems to indicate
two-wheelers are making a come back.
Color
revolution
For drab
and dusty Beijing, the bike-share color revolution of yellows, oranges and
blues is a welcome sight. People of all ages are enjoying the convenience the
bikes provide, which combines cell phone technology, and GPS tracking in some
cases, to help users find a ride.
Traveling
by car across the sprawling, densely populated city is often a nightmare. Even
distances of a few kilometers can take up to an hour when traffic is snarling. Cheng
Li, a bike-share user, said he has been driving his car less and using the
metro more since he started using the service about six months ago. “After I
get off the metro, I usually have to walk another kilometer or two, so I’ll
grab a bike share and go. It’s less stressful,” Cheng said.
For many,
the convenience of cycling is its biggest attraction. Beijing’s city government
has long had a bike-share program in place, but many of its bike-share stations
were inconveniently located. Getting registered for the smart phone based apps
is also much easier. For Zhang Jian, the bike-share revolution is not only
convenient, but nostalgic. “Now, when we’re riding home from work, especially
in the evening, when it’s not as rushed, it feels like we’re reliving the
past,” Zhang said.
Great
Wall of bikes
But with
a growing number of providers, competition is getting increasingly fierce. One
key tactic of providers has been to flood the streets with bikes — so much so
that sidewalks are almost blocked in some cases. The surge of bikes has become a major
headache for city governments. Users frequently leave bikes in the middle of
the street or just dump them on the sidewalk blocking passageways in an already
densely populated city.
In
Beijing’s southern district of Daxing, authorities have been fighting the surge
by seizing the illegally parked bikes that clog streets and metro exits, one
transportation worker said. “Bike sharing is really convenient, but no one is
taking care of the problem of illegally parked bikes,” the worker said. Behind
her are several thousand bikes that have been seized. It was unclear when or
how they would be returned to the companies that made them.
“Since
the Lunar New Year, the number of bikes has been growing rapidly. At least
10,000 bikes have been added to the streets (of Daxing) since then, and we’ve
collected about a third of that total,” she said. China’s two biggest
operators, Ofo and Mobike, have deployed more than 3 million bikes in scores of
cities across the country. And the numbers continue to grow. Mobike aims to expand to 100 cities at home
and abroad by the end of this year.
Bike
hunters
While
many complain the bike-share revolution has taken over city streets, some like
Gao Xiaochao are taking matters into their own hands. Gao is one of many who
call themselves bike-share hunters. Bike-share hunters find and report stolen
and vandalized bikes that users deliberately park outside their homes or inside
gated communities. With some bike-share apps, riders can report illegally parked
bikes or other problems the two-wheelers may have.
Gao uses
his lunchtime to find, report and move illegally parked bikes.
“Bike
hunting is like a game, a hobby, a way to get some exercise. It’s like a new
way of living,” Gao said. “Sometimes, I spend two to three hours looking for
illegally parked bikes and it’s just like talking a walk.” Many like Gao are
passionate about bike sharing and what it is doing to help transportation and
the city’s notoriously smoggy air.
However,
as complaints grow and competition gets increasingly cut-throat, they hope
companies will do more to improve their service and not just focus on flooding
the streets with bikes to edge out competitors.