HCMC to trial public bicycle sharing in downtown district

HCMC authorities have approved a public bicycle sharing scheme in District 1 from August in an effort to limit private vehicles and reduce traffic.

Bicycles will be rented out for VND10,000 ($0.43) per hour or VND5,000 for 30 minutes, and the scheme, called Mobike, will be trialed for one year.

Hanoi information-communications technology firm Tri Nam Company, which will run the scheme, will set up 43 bicycle stations on sidewalks and bus stations around the district, with each having 10-20 bicycles.

Do Ba Dan, its chairman, said the company is speeding up procedures to import bicycles and buy other equipment.

Tri Nam plans to import 500 bicycles.

They will be equipped with smart, GPS-equipped locks operated via 3G, 4G and 5G connections, or Bluetooth. Users have to install the Mobike app on their phones and can scan for the nearest station using it.

They need to provide certain personal information at the time of registration to safeguard against theft and vandalism.

Users can return a bicycle they rent to any Mobike station.

HCMC currently has almost nine million registered private vehicles, including 825,000 automobiles and 8.12 million motorbikes, according to its Department of Transport.

Since 2016 it has been considering ways to limit private vehicles in the downtown to ease congestion.

It plans to spend VND393 trillion ($16.93 billion) over the next decade to improve public transport and limit the use of private vehicles.

By Gia Minh & Huu Cong – VnExpress.net – April 13, 2021