Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    SHENZHEN Bay Park was cleared of bikes over the weekend thanks to an effort by park management to enforce a ban on app-based bikes during weekends and holidays.

    The management arranged for 100 employees, including security guards at the entrances of the park, to dissuade bike riders from entering the park.

    “The effect has been satisfactory and visitors are cooperating with our requirement,” Shao Zhifang, head of the park management, said during an interview yesterday.

    The ban on bikes during weekends and holidays was enacted to solve the worsening and chaotic situation triggered by the mixture of walkers and bikers in the park, which had attracted 300,000 visitors and 10,000 bikes each day during the Qingming Festival holiday last week.

    “We also require that bike operators limit the number of bicycles in the areas near the park, such as Wanghai Road and roads in the south of Baishizhou,” said He Fei, deputy department chief of the city’s urban management bureau. Similar rules will be considered for other major parks in the city, according to He.

    During weekdays, according to Shao, riders aren’t allowed to park bicycles inside the park.

    App-based bike operators are required to clear their bicycles, if there are any, the night before weekends and holidays, and bike rental services inside the park are also required to halt service during weekends and holidays.

    “The overcrowding of bicycles during the Qingming Festival holiday was alarming and caused by many factors. The popularity of bikes, the opening of Metro Line 9 and good weather during the holiday led to a sharp rise in park visitors,” said Shao.

    Many residents favored the decision, as the park returned to order and became safer after the ban, but some suggested that private bikes be allowed in the park.

    At a seminar on the regulation of app-based bikes Saturday at the Shenzhen Book City CBD Store, Huang Shengwei, head of the Law Enforcement Detachment of Shenzhen’s transport commission, said that bicycle lanes would be considered for newly built roads and existing roads would be renovated if their condition permits bicycles.

    The commission will plan a total of 5,000 preferred parking locations for app-based bikes before the end of the year. Huang suggested that bike operators use a GPS system and digital fence to punish bikers who randomly or illegally park their bikes in restricted areas.

    Some bike operators have started testing a digital fence, but before it is officially put into use, Jiang Jiarong, public affairs supervisor of Xiaoming Danche, said that they had been using apps to monitor the flow of bikes and send employees to those crowded places to reduce the number of bikes and ensure safety.

    Wu Ruirong, public affairs supervisor of ofo, thought the digital fence was technologically possible, but that bike operators don’t want to popularize it because they fear it will drive users away, especially amid the current fiercely competitive environment.

    Li Yi, a political adviser, predicted the situation at Shenzhen Bay Park at the beginning of the year and criticized the Shenzhen urban management authority for inaction and dereliction of duty at the seminar.

    “App-based bikes are a new thing, and we should encourage it, but we shouldn’t allow it to grow wildly while turning a blind eye. Operators have actually made public space their place of business, and we are paying the social cost for it. It isn’t a sharing economy, but rather a bike-leasing industry that uses apps,” said Li.

    A local resident named Gong Jie suggested that the government also regulate and assess bike operators and establish a credit-rating system for them. Those operators that fail the assessment should be disqualified from the market.

    App-based bike services appeared in Shenzhen last October and have gained popularity over the past six months. Data from the Shenzhen transport commission shows that seven companies, including Mobike, ofo and Bluegogo, are operating a total of 520,000 bicycles in the city.