Rental bikes crowd China’s cities
Competition among venture capital firms has placed 2.2 million bicycles in Beijing and Shanghai. Their business model of offering discounts and free rides, which may not be sustainable, is clogging the streets
BEIJING // The shiny bicycles in bright orange, yellow or blue are everywhere in China’s most prosperous cities – even in places they probably should not be.
The bicycles are unlocked and tracked using smartphone apps and can be rented for as little as US$0.07 (25 fils) for half an hour. They are the latest symbol of heavy spending by venture capital firms in the internet sector, where start-ups are racing to attract more users, seemingly regardless of the cost.
About 2.2 million bicycles have been introduced to China by companies that include Ofo, Mobike and Bluegogo, and are most often used in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, said internet analyst Xue Yu at IDC China.
In their rivalry to be the market leader in bike-sharing, the com- panies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars and are offering discounts and free rides to attract more users. It is unclear whether the business model is sustainable or how it might change if a winner emerges. China was long known as the “bicycle kingdom”, but that moniker has become outdated as more and more Chinese buy cars amid the country’s economic boom. China overtook the United States in 2009 as the world’s biggest car market, but authorities have encouraged bicycle use to reduce pollution and congestion.
Shared bicycles are now ubiquitous in Beijing, where Mr Xue estimates more than 200,000 have been introduced.
They are pedalled on the roads by commuters getting from sub- way stops to their workplaces, homes or other destinations. On weekends, tourists use them in the city’s historic centre, near the Forbidden City.
But as more and more bicycles hit the streets, they add to the urban chaos, with riders leaving them more or less anywhere.
Rush-hour users park them in public-bus lanes, leaving them for street attendants to pick up and move aside. Rows of bicycles, some of them toppled, crowd the sidewalks, leaving pedestrians little space to walk. Vandalism has become common, and repairs can be costly.