SHENZHEN’S transport commission is working on measures to standardize and regulate the operation of app-based bikes as the number of such bikes has reached 520,000.

The measures include market access and exit mechanisms, and a rating mechanism for app-based bike operators. Those operators who fail to meet the service standards will be punished by being cleared from the market.

“App-based operators should bid farewell to the wild growth period of putting more and more bicycles into the market. Instead they should shift their role toward improving their competitiveness through service,” Huang Wensheng, head of the law enforcement brigade of the Shenzhen transport commission, said.

Shenzhen has already unveiled a guidance on the development of app-based bikes, requiring app-based bike operators to control the scale and number of bikes in the market.

So far there are eight app-based bike operators doing business in the city. The latest app-based bike operator, Yibu Bicycle, announced last week that it would put 100,000 bicycles onto the streets before the end of the month.

Wang Xue, director of the transportation research center of Shenzhen Polytechnic, thought that the layout and distribution of app-based bikes wasn’t balanced. She suggested that app-based bike operators assess the market by taking advantage of its Internet data in order to make full use of the bikes and better serve the market.

(Han Ximin)