Beijing to crack down on shared bikes littering pavements
Huge growth in bike-share schemes in the capital has led some riders to leave bicycles blocking pavements and other public areas
Beijing is to crack down on hired bicycles left blocking pavements and public areas since the boom in private-funded bike-share schemes hit the capital.
Rong Jun, a spokesman for the Beijing municipal transport department, said the authorities would also plan more parking spaces for bicycles this year and may order bike-share service providers to ensure that riders put cycles back in government-designated areas.
Bike-share schemes are viewed as a way of reducing congestion and air pollution by reducing the number of cars on the streets of the capital. Exhaust fumes are one of the main causes of smog in Beijing.
A government-funded bike-share scheme put 80,000 cycles on the city streets and it also launched an app to lure more users. However, its business has largely been outpaced by Mobike and Ofo, two privately-run firms with foreign venture funding.
The government scheme already has parking areas designated for its bicycles, so the parking crackdown appears to be aimed at the private bike-share firms.