Recently, the provincial housing and urban-rural development department organized four cities — Hefei, Bozhou, Fuyang, and Chuzhou — to collectively visit Zhuzhou to study the planning, construction, and operation of its public bicycle rental system. This indicates that residents of Hefei and these three other cities may soon be able to pedal sleek and attractive bicycles for errands and leisure, enjoying both convenience and environmental benefits.
A Model from Zhuzhou
The City with the Best Public Bicycle System
As the pilot city with the best-performing public bicycle system in China, what is Zhuzhou’s secret? In May 2011, the Zhuzhou Public Bicycle Rental System officially went into operation. Two years later, the system now has 1,000 stations and 20,000 bikes, forming a comprehensive “Zhuzhou Model” that integrates production, R&D, operation, and management.
Zhuzhou has issued over 150,000 citizen cards, with daily bike rentals and returns surpassing 220,000 transactions. Cumulatively, citizens have rented and returned bikes over 20 million times. Public bicycles have gradually become part of daily life for Zhuzhou residents, solving the “last mile” issue of bus travel, effectively alleviating transportation and parking difficulties, and reducing commuting costs. According to estimates, if 90,000 people give up cars for public bicycles every day, carbon emissions can be reduced by 245.7 tons daily — an obvious environmental benefit.
Progress in Anhui: Currently, residents in Wuhu, Chizhou, and Tongling in Anhui have already started using urban public bicycles. Some areas in Hefei are also actively experimenting. For example, Xinzhan Vocational Education Town is planning to build a new night market and will include a public bicycle rental system with 6,000 bikes. Nearby students can rent bikes at prices even lower than bus fares. It is understood that if the public bicycle project in the vocational education area proves successful, it may be rolled out across the entire Xinzhan District.
Operational Models
Choosing a Rental Model Based on Local Characteristics
One model involves government funding to purchase public bicycle system equipment and assist suppliers in system construction. The government then entrusts or establishes a related enterprise to manage operations, using financial subsidies or ad revenue swaps to cover operating costs. This model facilitates government oversight, ensures relatively stable operations, but requires large upfront investment and ongoing government funding. Wuhu adopts this approach.
Another model is where enterprises invest in building and managing the system, while the government compensates through advertising space, etc. This avoids the need for government capital input and reduces fiscal pressure on localities, but ad revenues alone often cannot fully ensure stable system operation, and service quality can be hard to guarantee. Chizhou uses a combination of the above two models — the government and enterprises sign contracts, with each party contributing 50% of hardware investment for joint management.
Officials from the provincial construction department explained that current operational models are still under continuous exploration, each with its own pros and cons. For Hefei, it may consider selecting an urban public bicycle rental system operational model suited to local conditions in the future.
Expert Recommendations
Plan Ahead to Improve the Urban Bicycle Road Network
Experts from the provincial housing and urban-rural development department believe that to promote a public bicycle rental system in Hefei, it is essential to plan the system in advance and improve the urban bicycle road network. This should align with the planned urban greenway development, integrating newly built bike lanes with existing non-motorized vehicle paths.
“Including Hefei, many cities in the province have narrowed non-motorized vehicle lanes while widening roads,” the expert noted, adding that this trend makes bike lanes increasingly narrow, which is highly unfavorable for promoting public bicycles. Citizens may feel there is no safe place to cycle. Therefore, when launching special planning for urban public bicycle rental systems, it is important to coordinate the planning and construction of bike stations and routes.
“The placement of public bicycle rental points must be well implemented. These points should mainly be located near residential communities, commercial areas, schools, banks, etc., to make them convenient for citizens,” the expert suggested. Additionally, supporting facilities should be improved — signage and markers should be installed near rental points and redistribution stations to guide citizens in using public bicycles.