THE operator of Hello Bike has set up 400 parking locations and designated 13 non parking areas in the two months since it was approved to operate in the Shenzhen market.

The company was approved by the Shenzhen transport bureau for a trial operation starting June 13 in Yanluo and Songgang subdistricts in Bao’an District, adding 10,000 bikes to the Shenzhen shared-bike market.

While conducting market research into the company’s operations Wednesday, government agencies recognized the effort the company has put into operating in Shenzhen and hopes the company will apply more technologies, such as electronic fences, to guide riders to park bikes in designated areas and develop a cooperation mechanism with subdistrict governments for the management of shared-bikes and the healthy development of the industry. The company has shared all of its bike data with government agencies. To tackle random parking, the company guides riders by setting up preferred and regulated parking locations and nonparking locations.

The company has also set up a feedback system to maintain parking order and handle emergencies when shared bikes are in high demand, such as gatherings for sports and concerts.

According to a quarterly report released by the bureau in June, there was an average of 849,000 shared-bike rides recorded per day in Shenzhen, down from 5.17 million rides a day at its peak.

The number of shared-bike operators in the city has also dropped from 10 companies to two, namely Mobike and Ofo, which operate 480,000 bikes across the city, not counting Hello Bike, which was just approved for a business trial recently.

The report shows that half of all riders use shared-bikes to commute between home and work. The average trip generally covers 1.5 kilometers and lasts 12.8 minutes.

The report says that the two shared-bike operators still have problems regarding bike management, in such aspects as parking, user management, maintaining order, bike maintenance and handling bikes that have been temporarily impounded by authorities for violations.

Illegal and random parking is often seen in Xixiang and Xin’an subdistricts in Bao’an, Yuehai and Shahe subdistricts in Nanshan, Xiangmihu, Meilin and Huafu subdistricts in Futian District, Cuizhu and Sungang subdistricts in Luohu and Bantian Subdistrict in Longhua.

According to the report, the overall number of shared-bikes in the city should be limited to between 500,000 and 600,000. Although the number of bikes monitored by the transport authority has reached 480,000, the number of utilized bikes stands at 370,000, which means 100,000 shared bikes are considered zombie bikes that are left on roads unattended.  (Han Ximin)