Shanghai’s Bike Rental System Set to Transform City’s Biking Landscape

We’ve had our eye firmly fixed on bike culture in Chinese society over the past month, charging our ethnographic electrodes, allowing us to notice something interesting springing up along Shanghai’s sidewalks: a Forever powered bike rental system.

(photo credit, tokyocraiger)

Shanghai has long been a city where civil initiatives are often filled with bicycle focused suggestions and solutions. In the year 2010, it’s difficult to see any bicycle friendly implementations in a city littered with construction signs and clogged roads, mired in an unprecedented Expo frenzy.

There is hope however, and it comes from one of Shanghai’s oldest bicycle brands: Shanghai Forever Bicycle Company.

In the year 2008, as the patches of industrial buildings and residential houses along the Huangpu River had yet to be removed to make room for Haibao and his crew of merry workers, Forever set in motion its grand plan to integrate a comprehensive bike rental system along Shanghai’s streets. Mirroring successful bike rental platforms in Paris and Hangzhou, Forever took a small step into this foray with the introduction of a solitary rental system in Pudong’s Zhangjiang High Technology Park. Located directly next to the subway station, this bike rental system is meant to appeal to workers seeking transportation between the Subway and their final destination. Often the highest necessity for those lacking proper transportation, this last stage, referred to by city traffic planners and Xu Xuefeng, a Shanghai People’s Congress delegate, as “the very last three kilometers [between homes, schools, or communities to traffic hubs]“, is the most critical spot to place bike rental systems as this offers the most convenient and largest opportunity for adoption by potential rental bike users.

Following a recent string of bike related government initiatives, including a free bike trials in Shanghai’s Minhang district, and a focus to add more bike lanes in these “last three kilometers”, Forever’s bike rental system represents an ambitious plan to show off a modern Chinese biking society during the May 2010 Shanghai Expo. Currently in one of China’s most central districts, Xuhui, there are nine such rental bike ‘hot-spots”. A representative from Forever indicates that in Xuhui alone, there will be 40 or more of these bike rental “hot-spots” by the time the Shanghai Expo begins. However, by 2012, Forever hopes to have more than 3500 bike rental “hot-spots” spread across Shanghai’s vast city landscape at a cost of over 400 million yuan.

Forever’s commitment in this endeavor is not only for increased brand exposure and the promotion of bike culture in Shanghai; Forever also hopes to reduce motor vehicle emissions as well as provide the “healthiest capillary vessel” in Shanghai’s ever growing Public Transportation system. It also may be one of Shanghai’s most technologically advanced. Access to the bike rental service can be arranged by purchasing a RFID “bike credit card” for 200RMB that gives each user 100 “rider credits”. As riders return their bikes within certain pre-determined time frames, points are either deducted or added based on these times. The service is accessible for both locals and non-China natives; a government issued ID card, or passport is required to purchase the “bike credit card”. This attaches direct accountability for the bike and will hopefully deter thefts.

We’ve recently spoken with many local bike shops, riders, and city planning experts regarding bike rental systems and the consensus indicates that for Shanghai to successfully implement a system like this, it must keep in mind two things: accurately distanced rental stations based on usability and proximity to buses and subways, as well as proper government funding and attention. Essentially this cannot be a half-assed effort or it’s adoption rate will be low and over 400million RMB is simply thrown away.

The adoption rate among youth Bike riders is also a question of debate. 22 year old enoVate team member, Jermaine Chen, appreciates the program and it’s opportunities for environmental benefits as well as solving many people’s “last three kilometer” problems. Recent enoVate bike research also indicates that Shanghai youth are not vehemently opposed to renting a bike, instead praising the possibility to “bring friends together for a fun and enjoyable bike ride”.

More information about the bike system and bike news in Shanghai can be found on Forever’s official info website, China RMB.