WITH the popularity of app-based bikes, maintenance of such bikes that are left damaged in the street has become a prominent problem for the operators.

    Along the 10-km coastal belt of Shenzhen Bay Park, app-based bikes without seats, flat tires, broken chains and brakes can be seen occasionally.

    “My major job is to walk through the park looking for bikes with problems,” said an employee with ofo, one of the app-based bike operators in the city. “If one bike has a minor problem, I will fix it. For those I can’t fix, we will pick them up and send them to our maintenance center,” the employee surnamed Huang said in an interview Thursday.

    By the end of February, ofo had put 95,000 bikes in Luohu, Nanshan, Futian, Bao’an and Longhua, and had 1.5 million registered users. The company has assigned one maintenance employee for every 300 bicycles.

    Facing increasing problems, ofo is considering working out rules to punish those who intentionally damage bikes and give rewards to whistleblowers.

    In addition, the operators have setup a task force to patrol the streets. (Han Ximin)