Riding on the waves of new enterprise, bike sharing apps positioned in Nanjing have been the first to be summoned to a meeting designed to tackle the many public problems that are arising on account of the hugely successful shared transport program.
Among the main problems occurring are traffic congestion on pavements, bike dumping, theft and ridiculous piles of bikes on street corners.
While it is true companies employ people to head out into the night and tidy up the mess of the day, it simply is not sustainable enough. Thus, local news has reported that the Nanjing Municipal Transportation Bureau, Public Security Bureau and Urban Management Bureau held a joint meeting on 3 August to go through guidelines and regulations of Internet rental bicycle development in Nanjing city.
10 bike rental enterprises in Nanjing attended the meeting, which discussed the requirements. As a result, ffrom now until the end of the year, the operating companies will suspend the launch of new bikes. In addition, before 10 August, any existing unlicensed bikes with motors must withdraw from the Nanjing market. The government is also set to trial a new license plate system in a bid to tackle the problem.
With 450 thousand bikes circulating the city of Nanjing, it is thought that putting a hold on new bikes and regulating them through the use of license plates can go a long way towards helping reduce further congestion.
Some are clearly in favour of this approach, whereas others are of the opinion that this is yet another impractical form of officialdom, which will perhaps turn a fast and convenient means of travel into a complicated and slow one.
Kim Mahmood, from the United States, is an experienced and vocal proponent of the shared bike initiative. Speaking with the Nanjinger, he said, “It was the best idea in terms of originality. The bike service is extremely effective and pollution free. In [the] downtown area they are basically the life style. The problem lies with how people use [the bikes]. For me, the best solution is additional tax, which can cover parking fees plus stricter punishment for those who violate parking [rules] and damage public property. It basically requires a pubic awareness and movement to save this awesome service”.
Mahmood, who runs Grand Education corporate training, further commented, “During my more than a decade living in China, I haven’t seen such an awesome and original idea. It’s more up to us [foreign and Chinese alike] to save this service, rather than the government. If this service disappears we all must be blamed for it, rather than complaining about civility and manners. The question must be asked that when [a] few mannerless and shameless people were destroying such a great service, what were the majority doing to stop this from happening? Especially when the majority claims to be civilised”.
