Chris Edwards

    2045038940@qq.com

    ELECTRIC bikes and scooters have been banned in this city for many years now. For some, they are a bane on society. For others, they are the most practical way to commute or do business. The reality is that while they are banned, the laws enforcing their illegality are rarely enforced. As a result, shops that sell them abound all over Shenzhen, they are driven on roads and footpaths, and they have become an essential part of life in Shenzhen.

    The question is what does the city of Shenzhen do about it? Do they crack down on them more often? Crackdown is the traditional method of collecting those that break the law, but it has done little to stop the numerous bikes from flowing over the streets and footpaths of Shenzhen.

    What about closing the shops? Clearly, if the shops are not able to sell them, people will not be able to buy them. While it would stop the problem in the short term, the stores would simply reopen online, or in border areas in Dongguan and Huizhou.

    The most practical measure, however, is the opposite of these. If you look at the American states of Colorado and Washington, they legalized and regulated cannabis. Colorado is now making substantial amounts of money in taxes from a sales tax on marijuana, which it is spending on education.

    The city of Shenzhen should legalize e-bikes and scooters with a view of regulating them. The city could incorporate the regulation of them similar to how they do with cars. With the car business lagging due to the new laws around car sales, regulating e-bikes and scooters would be a highly lucrative revenue stream for the city.

    There are several revenue streams worth examining.

    The first could be the licensing of e-bikes and scooters. A fee would need to be paid to have them licensed and they could be renewed on an annual basis.

    The second revenue stream could be licensing the drivers. Testing the drivers and making sure that their licenses are up to date would keep the staff involved busy, and renewals of the licenses could require a renewal fee — additional revenue.

    The third revenue stream could be actual enforcement of the law. Yes, this would require more traffic police, but if people are driving without a license or riding an unlicensed e-bike or scooter, the fine can be much heavier than before. A system needs to be set up to make sure that there is an incentive to register the e-bike or scooter, as well as get a license to ride one, rather than risking a heavy fine, losing the vehicle and potential time in a detention center. The additional traffic police can also be used to enforce road rules already in place, which would improve road safety for everyone.

    These three revenue streams would result in increased money for the city of Shenzhen, less danger on the roads and improvements for everybody overall.

    (The author is an Australian English teacher in Bao’an District.)