7-11 "Ride as you beep"! Taiwanese can also ride shared bicycles during their self-guided trip to Japan

▲Japan 7-Eleven shared bikes are parked right at the entrance.(Photo／Sourced fromJapan’s SoftBankOfficial website, the same below)

International Center / Comprehensive Report

Japanese convenience store chain 7-11 (Seven-Eleven Japan) will Start offering shared bicycle rental services on the 22nd.It is reported that currently, 7-Eleven has only planned to offer this service at nine stores in Saitama City, north of Tokyo. This service, in partnership with Japan’s SoftBank Group, will be expanded to other regions in the future.Allow Taiwanese travelers on free independent travel in Japan to experience “shared bikes” and enjoy a slow “light” journey.

According to Asahi Shimbun, 7-Eleven partnered with SoftBank and OpenStreet in 2016 for their bike-sharing service "Hello Cycling." Customers can rent bikes at 7-Eleven parking stations, with plans to expand to 1,000 7-Eleven locations in urban areas by March 2018 and offer up to 5,000 bikes.

It is reported,“Hello Cycling” members can use a smartphone to locate shared bike stations and book through a form., but if you have already registered your transportation IC card and been authenticated, you can actually ride the bike directly at the bike station with just a beep, and what’s more convenient is that after use, you can pay via your pre-registered credit card without needing to go to 7-11 to top up separately.However,Pricing depends on the region and type of bicycle, generally ranging from 15 yen to 60 yen (about 4 to 16 NT).

In terms of bicycle usage, Japan follows closely behind Nordic countries and is among the nations with high bicycle usage density.According to the “Bicycle Traffic” report published by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in 2015, the number of bicycles in use reached approximately 72 million, comparable to the number of cars.In terms of transportation mode share, bike usage reached 13% by 2010—lower than the Netherlands' 27% and Denmark's 19%, but higher than Germany's 10% and the UK's 2%.