At around 10 a.m. on May 25, 1,000 bicycles at 35 bicycle stations in Luoyang City officially made their debut to the public under light rain. From now on, residents only need to pay a 600-yuan deposit and apply for a bike card to ride bikes for free to and from work. Some citizens said, “Since these are public welfare bicycles, why is such a high deposit of 600 yuan required?” Yesterday afternoon, Zhang Hongtao, director of the Donation Office at the Luoyang Welfare Lottery Center, provided an answer.
News
1,000 Bicycles Enter Service
At 10 a.m. on the 25th, near Wanda Plaza in Luoyang City, leaders and guests who came to attend the ceremony braved the rain to participate in the launch ceremony of the free bicycles. After a brief procedure, volunteers from Henan University of Science and Technology rode the bikes slowly through the rain. At this point, the bicycles had officially begun to be lent to the public for free.
It is understood that the purely public welfare and free bicycle system launched in Luoyang this time is the first public welfare public bicycle system in China built using special funds from the welfare lottery. The entire project is expected to invest 15 million yuan, all borne by the welfare lottery center. Currently, there are 35 stations with a total of 1,000 bicycles, all distributed in the urban area north of the Luo River. Among them, 30 management stations can issue bicycle cards, while the other 5 stations only allow borrowing or returning bikes. Both local residents and tourists, as well as local residents, can apply for the bicycle card service. “All citizens aged between 16 and 65 with cycling ability can apply for a public welfare bicycle card. Local residents only need to bring their ID card, while non-locals need to bring their temporary residence permit. A 600-yuan deposit is required to apply. Foreign tourists need to pay an 800-yuan deposit. If the bike is not damaged when returning the card, these deposits can be fully refunded,” staff explained.
Voices
Why Is the Deposit as High as 600 Yuan?
Some citizens have questioned why “since these are public welfare bicycles, such a high deposit of 600 yuan is required.” Yesterday afternoon, Zhang Hongtao, director of the Donation Office at the Luoyang Welfare Lottery Center, provided an answer.
“The pricing of the 600-yuan deposit is the rate during the current trial run. As the entire system becomes more complete and mature, this price will be lowered,” Zhang Hongtao said. According to his understanding, the current deposit for public welfare bicycles in Hangzhou is 200 yuan per bike, and 300 yuan in Wuhan. The reason these cities have lower deposit prices is that local public security authorities have equipped the bike pick-up process with an “ID recognition system.” With such a computer system, the credibility of bike users can be greatly improved and the bike loss rate reduced. Luoyang has not yet equipped such a recognition system.
Zhang Hongtao also introduced that the cost price of the public welfare bicycles equipped in Luoyang has already exceeded 600 yuan. Including transportation, storage, and simple maintenance, the actual cost per bike is about 700 yuan. Regarding the deposit price issue, Zhang Hongtao said they are currently negotiating the introduction of an ID recognition system. In addition, the pick-up process may also be set up to directly link the ID information of the bike user with the bank, further addressing potential issues of bike loss and compensation. “Once either of these two solutions is implemented after the overall operation system matures, the deposit price will naturally drop significantly.”
Vision
5,000 Bikes by 2020
How will such a citizen-friendly travel initiative be sustained? Don’t worry. After the completion of Luoyang’s free bicycle system, subsequent maintenance and other supporting costs will also be fully allocated by the provincial welfare lottery center. According to the plan, the Luoyang public bicycle system will be implemented in three phases. The first phase will set up 35 public bicycle stations, all located in the urban area north of the Luo River, with a total of 1,000 bicycles. These have been put into use since the 25th. By 2020, the number of public bicycle stations in Luoyang will reach 115, with 5,000 bicycles, and the station coverage will extend across all urban areas of Luoyang, forming a convenient bicycle road system to guide a “bicycle + bus” travel model.
It is understood that slow traffic represented by bicycles will also become a direction for urban transportation development. Currently, main roads in Luoyang are all equipped with bicycle lanes. The “Luoyang Urban Master Plan (2011-2020)” approved last year includes plans for creating a bicycle road system.