China has an old love affair with bicycles. In the 1950s and 1960s, legions in their Mao suits used to cycle to work.

China has an old love affair with bicycles. In the 1950s and 1960s, legions in their Mao suits used to cycle to work. It was encouraged as a symbolic demonstration of the system’s push to smash the class divide. Now, in President Xi Jinping’s market-driven, climate-conscious China, shared bikes have become the preferred vehicle for the young, rising and Internet-aware middle class. In most Chinese cities, cycles in orange, deep blue, green and yellow colours can be seamlessly hired.

It begins with the ubiquitous smartphone. Open the ‘app’ and it will show you on the map the location of the nearest available two-wheeler, enabling reservation for the next 15 minutes. Once located, the next step is to scan the barcode on the handlebar. The cycle-lock will open, and the rider is off, quite often to a nearby public transport point such as a metro or a bus station. The bicycle can be left anywhere, saving precious time. The rider, after triggering the lock of the bike, whose battery would be charged by the energy generated by pedalling, can move on. The payment is linked to the duration of the ride.

The bike-sharing innovators of China from companies such as Bluegogo, Mobike, the current market leader, Ofo and UBike have thoroughly analysed the operations of car service companies like Uber, Lyft and Didi Chuxing. Learning from the use of taxi-hailing apps was important, but it was also apparent that a far larger number of people used public transport than cabs in cities. The question then arose: could smart bikes fill the last-mile gap before public transportation could be accessed? If the popularity of smart bikes is any yardstick, the validation of the bike-sharing concept has already been done and dusted.

The founders also picked the shortfalls of traditional cycle rental services. Finding a parking rack was a major issue in this model, apart from locating parking space within it. Use of special payment cards also made the process cumbersome. In the smart bike concept, the power of the Internet has resolved both these problems.

Chaotic parking

Yet, the new bike culture, driven by private enterprises, has its critics. In a culture that respects order, stability and harmony, many frown upon the random and often chaotic parking of smart bikes, quite often along walkways and other public spaces, inconveniencing walkers. The use of a fairly high deposit fee has also been criticised, in a country familiar with accessing inexpensive, though shrinking, public services. The problems associated with shared bikes has also triggered a debate regarding the roles that the government, enterprises and users should play to make bike-sharing sustainable and enjoyable.

A Global Times write-up proposes adoption of a public-private partnership model based on collaboration between the government, enterprises and users to get over the teething troubles that are being currently encountered. It advocates that bike-sharing “rules should not be solely determined by the government, but must be made through discussion and consultation among users, bicycle enterprises, experts and the government”.

For entrepreneurs, it is important that they do not flood cities with bicycles. Instead, the focus should be on improving the quality of bikes, as well as conducting research on local conditions, to enhance and customise user experience. There is also a proposal to make bike users more responsible and better-behaved through a process of inducement. For instance, users who play by the rules would be rewarded with more “consumer credit”, discouraging “bike-abuse”, and adding extra miles to their ride.