Nearly 400 public bicycles are for rent on the roads of District 1 with the rental price of 5,000 VND for 30 minutes and 10,000 VND an hour.
Currently, there is only one point on Le Loi street (next to Nguyen Hue pedestrian street) where bicycles are arranged for people to experience. People experience will start from this point and return here to return the bike for convenience and easy control by the investor.
People excitingly enjoy the trial period (Photo: Tran Chung, Vietnamnet)
According to the investor, people who want to use it just need a few simple steps, free to download and install the Mobike application on their smartphones. On the application, users can scan around to get to the nearest station with a bike.
On the issue of preventing customers from using the bike when the time is up but do not want to pay, the investor said that this bike has integrated the most modern technology when locating where the vehicle is. When put into operation, the investor unit has its own technical team to control this situation. If the bike shows signs of abnormal movement or the lock has not been opened but the bike is still moving for 5 seconds, this team will recognise and promptly prevent it.
The public bicycle cover is designed in a solid, non-intestinal form to avoid the situation of flat tires or nails when traveling on the road (Photo: Minh Quan)
Since the first day of trial, many young people have come to have fun on Nguyen Hue pedestrian street and participate in the public bicycle experience. It is estimated that nearly 100 people participate in the public bicycle experience every day.
Most users are quite satisfied with the public bicycle model because they can walk around to see the city and exercise their body. In particular, many people appreciate that registering information via the App to use the bike is quite easy and quick.
The bike is unlock via the unique app (Photo: congan.com.vn)
However, in order to maintain this great green service after putting it into operation, both the local government and the investor need to put their best effort into actions. Citing a story from 2014, Hanoi once conducted a pilot to provide a public bicycle service but failed with this model because it did not meet the needs of users and could not cope with the problem of stealing. Plus, Ho Chi Minh City does not have many dedicated bicycle lanes, so it will affect the desire of users to rent bike on a daily basis.
By Tram Anh Pham
“Trâm Anh is a Hanoi-based sustainability promoter and writer. She is on the mission to create a sustainability movement for SMEs in Vietnam. She is the founder of Good Human, an environmental group with engaging contents and campaigns related to sustainability and circular economy. Get in touch with Trâm Anh at tramanh.pham161@gmail.com for collaboration and partnership!
