Home
» City specials
» Hangzhou
Rough and tumble takes toll on bike scheme
By Xu Wenwen and Deng Zhaohao |
June 5, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IT'S an ordinary afternoon at an ordinary public bicycle docking station in Hangzhou. An old man brings back the bike he'd borrowed, locking it and scanning a card to return it.
Then, just before leaving, the senior lifts the bike and tugs at it, not once but twice, testing that the lock is secure.
While hiring the bicycle is free, should it be stolen, the person who hired it is liable and must pay compensation.
But while testing reassures cyclists, it damages the bike's saddle and lock.
In the space of an hour at this docking station, the majority of the cyclists perform the same check, yanking at the bicycle and its lock.
Hangzhou, with a population of around nine million, now has 67,500 bikes in the scheme and almost 3,000 docking stations.
The free bicycle scheme has become an important means of transport in the city, with around 230,000 people hiring every day.
However, many bikes are now worn out from use. Figures from Hangzhou Public Bicycle Company show that every day more than 2,000 of the public bikes need repairs.
"Mostly, problems appear with the lock," says Wang Mingjia, a maintenance man of Hangzhou public bicycle, adding that most damage is caused by people checking bikes are locked.
Maintaining the locks is more difficult than other parts, and they have to be sent away to be repaired, explains Wang.
Other common problems with the public bikes include broken chains, damaged baskets and saddles and flat tires.
"Problems would be reduced if people took more care of the bikes. I often see them put very heavy bags in the basket or be rough with the pedals," says Wang.
The Hangzhou Public Bicycle Company estimates that given the number of repairs required, at least 592 maintenance staff should be employed.
However, there are only 155 maintenance staff in the company.
Some are based at a certain location, while others visit different stations.
Maintaining the bikes takes up a large chunk of the scheme's budget. Operating costs of the public bicycle system exceed 60 million yuan (US$9.78million) a year - of which more than half is spent on maintenance.
"It is a challenge to both the company and citizens," says Tao Xuejun, general manager of Hangzhou Public Bicycle Company. "The company is strengthening the management, and we hope citizens will treat public bikes gently."
Tao says that in 2008 the public bicycle rental rate was 0.93 times a day per cycle. Last year the number was 3.7 times per day. Not every bike is available every day due to repairs and other factors.
Over the years, each public bike has been hired 4,343 times on average.
Recently, the company introduced a computerized system to identify broken bikes, based on the assumption that a bike returned within two minutes of a rental is broken. When this happens, maintenance staff are assigned to examine these first.
Hangzhou's public bicycle system has received praise home and abroad, included among the BBC's eight cities worldwide recommended for these programs.
For city residents, a refundable deposit of 200 yuan is required, while for tourists, the deposit is 300 yuan.
Hires of up to an hour are free. Each additional hour costs 1 yuan each, for up to three hours. After that, each additional hour costs 3 yuan.
Then, just before leaving, the senior lifts the bike and tugs at it, not once but twice, testing that the lock is secure.
While hiring the bicycle is free, should it be stolen, the person who hired it is liable and must pay compensation.
But while testing reassures cyclists, it damages the bike's saddle and lock.
In the space of an hour at this docking station, the majority of the cyclists perform the same check, yanking at the bicycle and its lock.
Hangzhou, with a population of around nine million, now has 67,500 bikes in the scheme and almost 3,000 docking stations.
The free bicycle scheme has become an important means of transport in the city, with around 230,000 people hiring every day.
However, many bikes are now worn out from use. Figures from Hangzhou Public Bicycle Company show that every day more than 2,000 of the public bikes need repairs.
"Mostly, problems appear with the lock," says Wang Mingjia, a maintenance man of Hangzhou public bicycle, adding that most damage is caused by people checking bikes are locked.
Maintaining the locks is more difficult than other parts, and they have to be sent away to be repaired, explains Wang.
Other common problems with the public bikes include broken chains, damaged baskets and saddles and flat tires.
"Problems would be reduced if people took more care of the bikes. I often see them put very heavy bags in the basket or be rough with the pedals," says Wang.
The Hangzhou Public Bicycle Company estimates that given the number of repairs required, at least 592 maintenance staff should be employed.
However, there are only 155 maintenance staff in the company.
Some are based at a certain location, while others visit different stations.
Maintaining the bikes takes up a large chunk of the scheme's budget. Operating costs of the public bicycle system exceed 60 million yuan (US$9.78million) a year - of which more than half is spent on maintenance.
"It is a challenge to both the company and citizens," says Tao Xuejun, general manager of Hangzhou Public Bicycle Company. "The company is strengthening the management, and we hope citizens will treat public bikes gently."
Tao says that in 2008 the public bicycle rental rate was 0.93 times a day per cycle. Last year the number was 3.7 times per day. Not every bike is available every day due to repairs and other factors.
Over the years, each public bike has been hired 4,343 times on average.
Recently, the company introduced a computerized system to identify broken bikes, based on the assumption that a bike returned within two minutes of a rental is broken. When this happens, maintenance staff are assigned to examine these first.
Hangzhou's public bicycle system has received praise home and abroad, included among the BBC's eight cities worldwide recommended for these programs.
For city residents, a refundable deposit of 200 yuan is required, while for tourists, the deposit is 300 yuan.
Hires of up to an hour are free. Each additional hour costs 1 yuan each, for up to three hours. After that, each additional hour costs 3 yuan.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
