Beijing to Take Action on Bike-Sharing Chaos With New Regulations

Andrew Killeen | Apr 25, 2017 5:30 pm | 2 comments | 5643 reads

The rapid explosion of bike-sharing schemes on the streets of the city has been both a blessing and a curse for Beijingers. On the one hand, being able to pick up a bike at the subway station to whizz onwards to your next destination is highly convenient. On the other, it can be difficult to even reach the subway station entrance due to the impenetrable walls of Ofos, Mobikes, and Blue Gogos constructed around it.

READ: How Beijing Startup Ofo is Bringing China's Latest Export to the Rest of the World

Now the city authorities have moved to take action. Draft regulations were published for consultation on April 21, and we are pleased to report that on the whole they seem sensible and reasonable.

All bikes will be required to have GPS, and the apps will have to mark out areas where parking is forbidden. The intention seems to be to put the onus on users to park responsibly, or to risk having the service suspended.

Another common area of concern has been the difficulty in getting deposits back. Under new regulations deposits will be held in a special account administered by the People’s Bank of China, which will ensure that customers get their money returned to them when appropriate.

READ: Beijing to Stop Red Light Runners by Making Children Dance in the Middle of Traffic

Other rules set standards for the maintenance of bikes and tighten the requirements for the companies to have third party insurance. Children under 12 will be forbidden from riding shared bikes. One area which might cause disappointment is that the regulations rule out shared e-bike schemes, for the time being at least.

The two biggest players in the market, Ofo and Mobike, have responded positively to the proposed regulations, and it seems likely that the public’s attitude will also be favorable. We look forward to seeing the new rules passed and enforced, so that we can enjoy the benefits of bike sharing without the chaos that sometimes ensues.

This article originally appeared on our sister site beijingkids.

Photo: allchinatech.com

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PatrickLi's picture PatrickLi Submitted by Guest on Tue, 04/25/2017 - 23:42

I read an online oponion about the negative externalities posted by shared bikes. The idea is that ofo and mobike know exactly that their bikes don't last long and will likely to be dumped somewhere in 2-3 months. Therefore, they intentionally made the bikes very cheaply, and refused to set up gps on the bikes. Both means help them to reduce the cost. The negative externality kicks in at two levels. 

a. ofo and mobike ordered the bikes from factories, ran the business, and earned the money, but they didn't have to deal with large amounts of obsolete bikes. I've seen pictures of the dumped bikes like mountains at the outskirts of the city. 

b. massive production of cheap bikes which last couple months and then got dumped creates waste to the society, comparing to each person having his own bike and using his for years. In the long run no one really knows if the benefit outweighs the price or the price outweighs the benefit. The government should encourage bikes to last longer. 

The poster of this idea argued for regulations to tackle the negative externality issue, and I'm sure she will be glad to see these regulations. The problem, still, is enforcement. All regulations in China are pretty much per se suspect. You only believe it when real change happens. 

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