Cooperation can solve shared bikes’ problem

Zhu Dajian, a professor at the College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai

Bike-sharing is an innovative business model that allows startups to rent instead of selling bicycles to users, and thus curb material consumption while meeting the needs of consumers.

But in the pursuit of profits and the urge to seize market share, many companies invested huge amounts of capital in the sector regardless of the actual demand, which led to excessive overcapac- ity and damaged bikes, forcing many of the companies to declare bankruptcy earlier this year.

Indeed, the bike-sharing companies are obliged to dispose of their damaged and irreparable bicycles in an environmentally friendly way even after declaring bankruptcy. But the government could take precautionary measures that require all companies to pay a handsome deposit before launching a new business model, which at first glance may appear promising but could prove a failure in the long run, so that the bill for cleaning up the mess they leave behind is not footed by taxpayers.

Since shared bikes have a lifespan of roughly three years, most of them ought to be decommissioned next year. So the government should issue new rules in advance, for example, to ensure the existing bike-sharing companies publicize their recycling plan and do not introduce new bikes before properly recycling the old and damaged ones.

But because shared bikes provide public service while serving as vehicles to make profit, the government should consider granting subsidies to help the companies build enough space for parking and managing the bicycles.

And given that bike-sharing companies’ efforts to solve the “last-mile” problem for commuters have resulted in the disorderly growth of the industry and created new traffic and logistics problems, the government should work out a sustainable and foolproof plan, perhaps with the existing bike-sharing companies, for urban transport development.