Shared Bikes: A Golden Age or Madness? In just one year, the expansion of shared bikes has changed the short-distance travel patterns of urban residents in China, but various regulatory and environmental problems have also arisen. From Beijing to Lhasa, shared bikes have entered nearly 100 cities in China. These colorful shared bikes are equipped with GPS positioning systems, and can be unlocked and ridden by scanning the QR code on the bike with a smartphone; some can even be booked via mobile phone. Zhu Dajian, director of the Think Tank for Sustainable Development and New Urbanization at Tongji University, told China Dialogue that the public bicycle program promoted by the Chinese government for 10 years has not achieved significant results, while this round of shared bikes, entirely dominated by private capital, has achieved results in just one year, reducing car use and traffic congestion. China is expected to explore a brand-new transportation model for the world. However, due to the rapid expansion of capital, the number and scale of shared bikes have exploded within one year, leading to a series of problems such as over-deployment, indiscriminate parking, disorderly encroachment on urban public space, and environmental pollution in the production process. The free use and parking of shared bikes is causing trouble for urban management. Professor Wu Weiqiang of Zhejiang University of Technology proposed in a study that, based on the current development speed of the four shared bicycle companies in Hangzhou, the number of shared bicycles in Hangzhou will reach nearly 330,000 by the end of this year. Adding to the tens of thousands of public bicycles previously deployed by the government, with Hangzhou's permanent population of 9 million, the bicycle market will be oversaturated by the end of this year. In Beijing, according to CCTV reports, more than 20 shared bicycle brands are currently competing, with a scale of nearly one million bicycles. Zhou Zhengyu, director of the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission, said at a Beijing Bicycle Day event in April that there are currently 700,000 shared bicycles in Beijing. Whether this is excessive for Beijing, with a permanent population of over 20 million, is unknown, as there are currently no authoritative statistics on the usage rate of shared bicycles. The Beijing Youth Daily reported that Xicheng District in Beijing has banned the parking of shared bicycles on 10 main streets in the district. Nie Riming, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, believes that the emergence of the shared bicycle boom in China is largely due to the failure of urban planning and transportation planning. "The government-led public transportation system couldn't meet the demand, which led to the popularity of bike-sharing. The market filled the gap, and the government should first consider improving the environment, not just focusing on the negative impacts like haphazard parking and excessive numbers," said Liu Daizong. "Furthermore, the lack of standards for bike-sharing deployment and the absence of entry barriers for companies have resulted in the current disorderly development of bike-sharing." He added, "Government departments certainly need time to react to the rapid development of this new phenomenon and conduct relevant research and countermeasures. However, I believe that the experience accumulated by the Ministry of Transport in formulating policies for ride-hailing services can be more effectively applied to the management of bike-sharing." He also believes that right-of-way is fought for by citizens, and as more people use bike-sharing, the car-centric urban traffic management model will inevitably change. Zhu Dajian told China Dialogue, "Behind the excessive development of colorful bike-sharing is excessive competition among capital." Reports indicate that ofo and Mobike have each received eight rounds of financing, totaling over 3 billion yuan. To seize market share, frantic expansion has become the choice for bike-sharing companies. In April, Mobike announced that it had deployed over 3.65 million bicycles, with a daily production capacity exceeding 100,000 bicycles, accounting for 45% of the global daily bicycle production capacity. ofo stated that its total deployment would reach 10 million bicycles by the end of the year. Bicycles are a zero-emission mode of transportation. However, the surge in bicycle production caused by bike-sharing has raised concerns about environmental issues during the production process. An investigation by the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) found that some bike-sharing manufacturers, such as Fuji, were operating their production lines at full capacity due to large orders from ofo, making it difficult to address environmental issues. Some projects failed to update or upgrade their waste gas treatment facilities in a timely manner, and some even failed to obtain environmental approval. Fuji is one of the pillar enterprises in Tianjin's bicycle manufacturing industry. Mobike's magnesium alloy wheel manufacturer also has a poor pollution record, such as directly emitting dust and gases containing toxic substances into the atmosphere. Ding Shanshan, IPE's Green Supply Chain Project Manager, told China Dialogue that their research revealed violations by suppliers, such as construction without prior approval, during the production process. "This is mainly due to the shared bicycle companies' eagerness to expand the market, resulting in very high demand. For example, if a certain number of bicycles need to be deployed in a city within a week, manufacturers need to work overtime to expand production lines, leaving no time for environmental protection facilities or environmental impact assessments." According to an employee of the well-known domestic bicycle brand Flying Pigeon, with shared bicycle orders, the company's production lines have remained running even during the usual off-season, with additional manpower and expanded capacity, resulting in a dramatic increase in monthly output from 100,000 units to 400,000 units. On May 10th and 26th, IPE sent emails to the two shared bicycle brands, reminding them to pay attention to the environmental impact of bicycle production, urging problematic suppliers to rectify and change their practices, provide public explanations, and establish supplier environmental management systems. However, Ding Shanshan said that as of now, neither ofo nor Mobike has responded. Greenpeace's investigation also found that to save costs, ofo uses disposable batteries in its "smart locks," which will damage the environment. The Chinese government has publicly expressed a positive attitude towards bike-sharing. A draft management regulation for bike-sharing, currently open for public comment by the Ministry of Transport, explicitly encourages the development of internet-based bicycle rental services, aims to improve service levels, and allows bike-sharing to optimize urban traffic and reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector. However, specific regulations are still unknown. Zhu Dajian believes that the problems exposed by bike-sharing cannot be solved by companies alone; cooperation among the government, companies, and consumers is needed. He argues that bike-sharing in China has pioneered a new model for urban public bicycles: while European public bicycles were equipped with docking stations, Chinese bike-sharing is not only dockless and intelligent but also a new model of market-based public service provision. However, he also points out that the current deployment of bike-sharing in major Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen is nearing saturation, and the focus should now be on controlling the number of bikes and increasing the sharing rate. Zhu Dajian frankly admits that bike-sharing is a new phenomenon, requiring new governance thinking from the government. However, if it can develop healthily and replace the car-dominated urban transportation model, bike-sharing will be a contribution from China to the world. Chinese bike-sharing companies are poised to expand into the international market. Ofo already boasts over 30 million users in China, Singapore, and the United States. Mobike claims to have entered more than 50 cities both domestically and internationally, and plans to cover 100 cities globally this year. Source: Chinadialogue (June 9, 2017) (Compiled by PIDC)
